In Elmont, the New York Islanders tried to get their season back on track with a 6-3 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon.
Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in the win.
The Islanders moved to 30-25-15, ending a six-game schneid.
“We’ll enjoy it here for about a half hour, and then when we leave the rink today, it’s all about tomorrow,” the Islander Mathew Barzal said. “We have such a singular focus right now on every game, and that’s really just our mindset. Just every game is so big for us in the standings, and staying alive, and getting off the schneid. We probably deserved better in a few games, and it was unfortunate, and tonight you see some bounces going in and things like that. So, it’s a massive win for us.”
Clutterbuck scored his double in the opening stanza when the Isles took a 3-1 lead. His first came at 5:22 for a 1-0 lead,
He picked up his double at 8:50, scoring form the left side for a 2-0 advantage.
Winnipeg replied with a marker from Vladislav Namestnikov at 11:20 to trim the deficit to 2-1. He scored off a breakaway.
The Isles’ Kyle Palmieri restored the two-goal lead with a strike at gave at 16:47, scoring from the right circle.
“We just played so well,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We were not fancy. We were putting pucks deep, we were putting pucks at the net. We were playing very north from our breakout and our neutral-zone regroup. We move that puck quick. We put the puck deep, put pressure on their defense, and held onto the puck a lot in the first period. So, I was very happy to see that.”
The Jets dropped to 44-21-5.
Winnipeg is third in the Central Division, two points behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.
“We didn’t match that intensity, and that’s the result we got in the first two periods,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “I don’t know where we’ll sit after that game, but we’ve been one of the best defenses at 5-on-5 in the League all year; we pride ourselves on playing that way. … Clearly, that wasn’t there tonight.”
In the middle frame, the Islanders posted three more goals to take complete control of the match.
Hudson Fasching started the second period outburst with a goal at 1:51 for a 4-1 advantage, scoring from the right boards.
Barzal ballooned the lead to 5-1 midway through the second, scoring off an errant puck at the crease.
Anders Lee then stretched the lead to 6-1 at 15:32, scoring from the right circle.
In the third period, the Jets added two so what goals, with Mason Appleton making 6-2 in favor of the Isles 2 at 7:37.
Cole Perfetti added a lipstick marker at at 17:50 for the 6-3 final count on the scoreboard..
Connor Hellebuyck got the start, he yielded five goals, making 21 saves before getting the hook in the middle frame.
“That’s the first time we’ve had to pull our goaltender all year; [we] left both those goaltenders out to dry,” Winnipeg associate coach Scott Arniel said. “That was the most goals we’ve given up, so that was just not enough desperation in those first two periods in how we needed to play.”
Laurent Brossoit made 12 saves in relief.
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