In Brooklyn Thursday, Bryan Little struck twice for the Winnipeg Jets in a 4-2 win over the Islanders.
“My linemates did a really good job of getting pucks turned over,” Little said. “That’s the 
way it goes sometimes.”
Connor Hellebuyck helped the Jets end a four-game slide as he made 27 saves for the win and the Jets improved to 31-33-7.
The Jets kept pace with the St Louis Blues whom they trail by 10 points for the second wild spot.
Mathieu Perreault and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets as well.
The loss pushed the Isles into a follow-up postion in the east’s race for the second wild card spot.
“It’s a good thing to be in these games where you have to lay it on the line,” New York head coach Doug Weight said. “But there’s times when, especially with 13 or 12 games remaining and the circumstances we’re in; it gets to be 3-1 and everybody tries to do a little bit extra and it maybe becomes a little detrimental.”
New York got off to a quick start when Adam Pelech staked the Isles to a 1-0 lead with just 38 seconds gone in the game.
Little’s two games erased that deficit in the fist period.
“They had a few shifts in our end where they were cycling around and had some chances,” Little said. “But for the most part, we did a good job keeping them on the outside and when we did have a breakdown, Hellebuyck came up with some really big saves.”
Anders Lee also scored for the Islanders.
The Jets got the win but got no help from San Jose Sharks who lost to St Louis Thursday, 4-1.
“It’s hard to celebrate anything. We’re in a tough spot. Now we’re just trying to get better as a team and work on things. It’s hard to celebrate personal achievements,” Little said after the game and his 20th goal of the season.
WATCH: All Jets vs. Islanders highlights
Thomas Greiss took the loss on 24 saves.
“We just dug ourselves into another hole, like we’ve done lately. A couple times, we’ve dug ourselves out of it, but it’s hard to do that game in and game out at this time of year,” the Isles’ John Tavares said.
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