When was the last time the NY Islanders won a game by 9 goals?

Throughout the entire month of December, goals didn't come easily for the NY Islanders. The team went nine games without scoring three goals until Saturday's 4-3 OT win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But goals seemed to come easy tonight against the NJ Devils, beating their Metro Division rivals 9-0 on just 24 shots.

Nearly 40 years to the day since the NY Islanders won a game by nine goals

It's been a while since the Islanders have won a game by nine goals. In fact, the last time they did so was almost 40 years to the day, beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 9-0 on Jan 9, 1986, at Nassau Coliseum.

In goal that night was Kelly Hrudey, who had a much easier night between the pipes, making 27 saves, compared to Ilya Sorokin's 44 tonight.

Though it was the first nine-goal differential in almost 40 years, the Islanders have actually won by that wide a margin six times in their early years of existence.

9-0, Jan 9, 1986 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
9-0 Oct 14, 1982 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
10-1 Mar 4, 1982 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
9-0 Dec 21, 1981 @ Chicago Blackhawks
9-0 Jan 2, 1979 vs. Vancouver Canucks
9-0 Nov 1, 1977 @ Atlanta Flames

The big winner on the stat sheet tonight was Anthony Duclair, recording his first hat-trick since 2019. As you'd imagine, a handful of Islanders had three goals of tehir own in the six previous nine-goal margins of victory. The most recent was accomplished by Butch Goring, and previously, Mike Bossy three times, and Bryan Trottier.

It may be a rarity in the NHL to see such a wide margin of victory in today's game, but you'll take them when you can get them, especially when you're on the winning side.