Takeaways: Islanders Best Jets 3-2

After a 4-0 loss to the New York Rangers on Monday night, the New York Islanders knew they needed to bounce back.

They responded in a big way in front of their fans at UBS Arena, beating the top team in the NHL in the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 on Tuesday night in the second half of a back-to-back set.

“We weren’t happy last night, getting shut out on the road like that against a rival,” Captain Anders Lee said. “We knew we had to bring it tonight.”

Kyle Palmieri (PPG), Brock Nelson and Ryan Pulock powered the offense for New York, while Josh Morrissey (PPG) and Nikolaj Ehlers (PPG) provided goals for Winnipeg. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves on 28 shots for the win after starting in both games of the back-to-back set. Connor Hellebuyck turned aside 26 of 29 shots in the loss.

“He’s resilient,” Lee said about Sorokin. “He can handle anything, back to backs, no problem. Another great goaltending matchup and he comes out on top.”

The Islanders (63 points) gained ground in the standings, pulling themselves within three points of the Rangers (66 points) who hold the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference after the Detroit Red Wings (66 points) fell 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Islanders had a slow start to the game but found energy and their legs as the period wore on, with their captain providing a spark. Lee dropped the gloves with Adam Lowry. Both players received a major for fighting and the physicality seemingly gave the Isles some energy.

“Lee was a big spark for us,” Palmieri said. “That’s our leader stepping up in a big moment.”

The Isles used that momentum and converted on their first power play opportunity of the game. Nelson had time and space in the right dot but instead of opting to shoot, he sent a cross-ice pass over to Palmieri, who ripped a clean shot through Hellebuyck to open the scoring at 16:49. They recorded the final 15 shots of the period, after being outshot by the Jets 10-2 to start the game, coming out of the first period with a 17-10 shot advantage.

The momentum of the opening frame carried over into the second, as the Isles doubled their lead within the first two minutes into the period. Max Tsyplakov drove to the net and sent a pass across the crease to Nelson, who capitalized off Hellebuyck being out of position and wristed a shot into an open net to take a 2-0 advantage at 1:33 of the frame.

The Jets got one back on the man advantage, as Morrissey’s shot from the point deflected off the skate of Simon Holmstrom and into the net, cutting Winnipeg’s deficit to 2-1 at the 8:48 mark of the period.

Up by a goal in the in the third period, the Isles kept pushing. Winnipeg turned the puck over in their own zone and the Isles took full advantage, as Anders Lee muscled the puck out to Pulock, whose blast from the point went off the skate of a Winnipeg defender and into the net at 4:03 to take a 3-1 advantage.

The Jets were back within one after Ehlers buried a power play goal at 12:51 of the final frame, but the Isles held on and weathered the storm with Hellebuyck pulled for the extra skater.

LINEUP NOTES

Anthony Duclair drew into the lineup for Adam Boqvist. Duclair recorded one shot on goal, one blocked shot in 14:45 TOI, skating on a line with Horvat and Palmieri.

Roy debuted new-look lines on Tuesday across the board. Nelson centered a line with Max Tsyplakov and Simon Holmstrom. JG Pageau was in the middle of Lee and Casey Cizikas. Hudson Fasching played with Kyle MacLean and Marc Gatcomb.

ODDS AND ENDS

• Kyle Palmieri recorded his seventh career 20-goal season and second with the Isles. Also crossing the 20-goal mark was Nelson, who became the seventh player in franchise history to record nine or more 20-goal seasons. He joins exclusive company in Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Brent Sutter, John Tavares and Denis Potvin.

“Those guys are so steady, no surprise there,” Lee said of Nelson and Palmieri. “They’ve been doing it for years, they’re extremely consistent.”

• Sorokin got the start for the 31^st time in the last 37 games. Tuesday marked the third time this season he started on consecutive nights.
• The Isles allowed a power play goal in the middle frame that snapped a stretch where they were they went a perfect 10-for-10 on the PK over five games
• The Islanders improved to a record of 4-5-0 in the second half of back-to-back sets.

NOTABLE QUOTE

Roy on his team’s bounce-back effort:

“In our meeting before the game, I could tell that the guys were ready for that game. We were playing a very good hockey club and we had to come up with a solid team effort, and that’s exactly what we got.”

NEXT GAME

The Islanders have three days without games before they kick off a three-game road trip out west that starts with the Sharks in San Jose. Puck drop is set for 10 p.m. eastern.