Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves in another shutout Saturday night, while Brock Nelson remained red-hot by scoring an insurance goal in the third period as the visiting New York Islanders earned a 2-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets.
The shutout was the third of the season — all in the last five contests — for Sorokin, who is the only NHL goalie to start all of his team’s games this season.
Anders Lee scored early in the first for the Islanders, who extended their point streak to eight games (5-0-2) and improved to 5-2-2 on a franchise-record 13-game road trip.
Goalie Eric Comrie recorded 29 saves for the Jets, whose eight-game point streak was snapped.
A chaotic sequence led to Lee scoring on the Islanders’ second shot of the game early in the first. New York’s Mathew Barzal and Josh Bailey battled for the puck behind the Jets net with Brenden Dillon and Adam Lowry before Bailey finally gained possession and fired a shot to Lee, who was stationed in the crease. Winnipeg defenseman Neal Pionk, who was a late arrival to the scrum, darted in front of Lee, but the center’s shot went over Comrie’s far shoulder at the 3:12 mark.
Sorokin and Comrie combined for 20 saves in a scoreless second before the Islanders doubled their lead in the first minute of the third. Adam Pelech picked off a shot into the crease by Andrew Copp and sent a pass up the ice to Kyle Palmieri, who was draped by Josh Morrissey in the neutral zone as he tapped the puck to Nelson in stride. Nelson, with a step on Morrissey, raced up the right side and fired a shot past a sprawling Schmidt and under Comrie’s stick hand just 47 seconds after faceoff.
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The goal was the team-high seventh of the season and the fifth in the last two games for Nelson, whose four-goal game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday was the first by an Islanders player in more than six years.
The Jets mounted their lone power play of the game after Barzal was whistled for tripping with 3:29 left but didn’t get a shot with the man advantage.
–Field Level Media