In Detroit, the New York Islanders entered their match with the Red Wings needing a solid effort from across the bench on Thursday night.
They got that effort and it resulted in a 5-3 win for the Isles over Detroit.
Brock Nelson hit for a double in the win.
Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves in the win.
The Islanders moved to 25-20-14..
“This has been a good road trip,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “Dallas is not an easy place to play, and it is the same thing here. They are fast teams that move the puck well. This gives us something to build off going home.”
Nelson hit for his first of the game at 12:11 of the opening stanza for a 1-0 lead to New York.
Casey Cizikas extended the advantage to 2-0 at 16:18, scoring off a deflected puck.
Detroit got one back in the middle frame on Olli Maatta ‘s first of a pair on the night for a 2-1 deficit for the Red Wings headed to the third period.
The Red Wings dropped to 33-21-6, snapping a six-game streak.
“I think the difference in this game was our intensity to start the game,” Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. “If we had started the first period with the same intensity we had in the second period, we would have been playing from the lead all night instead of chasing the game.”
In the third period, Detroit’s Patrick Kane scored to knot the game, 2-2, with 10 seconds gone in the frame.
“Everyone makes a big deal about letting leads go, but it happens when you have leads,” Roy said. “A one-goal lead in this league is nothing. Even a two-goal lead in this league is nothing.”
After that, it was an exchange of doubles with Nelson collecting his off the power play at 5:04 for a 3-2 lead to the Islanders.
Maatta potted his double midway through the third for a 3-3 tie.
“I think we’re doing a really good job of using our defensemen in a five-man unit to get them some chances,” Maatta said. “[David Perron] made a great pass to get me the puck for the first one, and [Gostisbehere] made a great pass for the second one.”
The claimed the lead, again, when Matthew Barzal scored down low for a 4-3 lead for New York at 13:58.
The Isles sealed the win with an empty-net strike by Pierre Engvall with 36 seconds left on the game clock for the 5-3 final count on the scoreboard.
“This was such a big game for us,” Barzal said. “It was nice to get the [empty-net goal] to put an exclamation point on it instead of having to grind out the last 30 seconds.”
Alex Lyon made 22 saves in the loss.
“I think this has to go down as a disappointing missed opportunity,” Lalonde said. “We had the game tied twice in the third period and didn’t get a point. The Islanders are too good of a team to give them 20 minutes like we did in the first period.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.