Isles forward Matthew Barzal named NHL's Second Star of the Week

The NHL announced Sunday that New York Islanders rookie forward Matthew Barzal was named the league's "Second Star" fot the week ending Dec. 24.

Barzal posted six points, including a League-high four goals, in three games to power the Islanders (19-13-4, 42 points) to three out of a possible six standings points.

He registered one assist in a 6-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings Dec. 19, 1-1—2 in a 5-4 overtime loss against the Anaheim Ducks Dec. 21 and his first career hat trick (including the game-winning goal) in a 5-2 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets Dec. 23. In doing so, Barzal became the 11th rookie in Islanders history to record a hat trick and first since 2010-11 (Michael Grabner), and the youngest Islander to do so since John Tavares in the same season.

The 20-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., native leads all rookies with 23 assists and 35 points through 36 contests this season.

GAMEDAY: Isles face Jets in Saturday afternoon tilt

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (18-13-4) VS WINNIPEG JETS (20-10-6)

DEC 23 - 1 P.M. - BARCLAYS CENTER

TV: MSG+ MSG GO

RADIO: 88.7 WRHU, 660AM/101.9FM WFAN

The Islanders will look to rebound from Thursday's loss when they face the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon.

The Islanders lost to the Anaheim Ducks 5-4 in overtime on Thursday night, the fourth time in five games they'd allowed five or more goals. In December, the Islanders are averaging 4.45 goals against and are 3-6-2 over that span.

"Giving up five goals is just too many. We have to find a way to be better defensively starting with myself," Isles center John Tavares said after Thursday's game. "We were scoring enough goals, we just need to tighten up and run with the opportunities."

LINEUP NOTES

The Islanders tinkered with their third and fourth lines at Friday's practice. Shane Prince practiced with Brock Nelson, Anthony Beauvillier and Steve Bernier, while Jason Chimera, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck were reunited on the fourth line.

THE OPPOSITION

The Jets are second in the Central Division with 20 wins and 46 points. Mark Scheifele (drafted seventh overall in 2011) has recorded 37 points (15G, 22A) in 36 games this season, while Patrik Laine has followed up a sensational rookie season with 18 goals this season, sixth most in the NHL. Jets 2014 first-round pick (ninth overall) Nikolaj Ehlers has 17 goals and 28 points in his third season with the tean.

Scheifele, Laine and Ehlers all find themselves behind leading scorer Blake Wheeler, who has 41 points (9G, 32A) this season - seventh most in the league.

In goal, Connor Hellebuyck is 18-4-5 this season with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

Lindholm completes hat trick in OT as Ducks beat Isles 5-4

By ALLAN KREDA
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- On most nights, Hampus Lindholm is not a huge threat to score. But the Anaheim Ducks defenseman was in the right place three times Thursday.

Lindholm completed his first career hat trick with a goal 4:03 into overtime, and Anaheim snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-4 comeback victory over the New York Islanders.

"I had some room and a good shooting angle and it went in," the 23-year-old Lindholm said. "We really dug deep. It was good to get a win."

Ryan Miller made 22 saves for the Ducks, sending New York to its fourth loss in five games. It was the fourth win this season for the 37-year-old backup.

Anaheim tied the game with Miller pulled for an extra skater when Rickard Rakell scored at 18:45 of the third period. Brandon Montour and captain Ryan Getzlaf assisted. Getzlaf had four assists overall and has points in five games since returning from a facial fracture.

"It's always nice to have your big guys step up," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said.

Andrew Ladd put the Islanders ahead 4-3 at 7:52 of the third as they rallied from a 3-1 deficit. New York goalie Jaroslav Halak was shaky early but rebounded to finish with 35 saves.

"We had a lead with two minutes left," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "We played a little timid early, trying not to make mistakes."

Ladd's rebound shot for his ninth goal beat Miller after Islanders captain John Tavares tied the game with his second goal of the night at 5:44 of the third. The goal was the 21st of the season for Tavares.

The Islanders trailed 3-1 late in the second when Tavares scored at 16:59.

Tavares wasn't happy with his team's defensive performance, including his own. He was on ice for three of Anaheim's goals.

"Giving up five goals is too many," he said. "We have to find a way to be better defensively, starting with myself. We're scoring enough goals. It's frustrating. We should have better results."

The Ducks led 2-0 after the first period on goals by Lindholm and Ondrey Kase.

After Islanders rookie sensation Mathew Barzal narrowed the deficit on the power play at 5:39 of the second, Lindholm scored again at 12:36.

A day after announcing future arena plans at Belmont Park, the Islanders lost their second straight at home. They are 10-3-3 at Barclays Center this season.

The game drew a crowd of 10,092. The Islanders are last in the NHL in attendance, averaging 11,475 through 16 home games.

Lindholm opened the scoring at 8:09 with assists by Andrew Cogliano and Getzlaf. The 30-year-old Cogliano has never missed a game in his NHL career, playing in 822 straight.

Kase made it 2-0 at 9:54 when his slot eluded Halak.

The Islanders came out with more jump in the middle period. Barzal narrowed the deficit to 2-1 on the power play, his ninth goal of the season. Josh Bailey and Tavares had assists.

Bailey has points in seven straight games, and Tavares has a six-game point streak. Both had three points in the game and share the team lead with 45.

Lindholm scored his second of the game at 12:36 of the second to make it 3-1 in favor of the Ducks.

The Islanders entered having allowed a league-high 3.5 goals per game. They have given up three or more in 10 of 12 games this month.

"We're not satisfied," Weight said. "We have to keep the confidence up."

Anaheim won the previous meeting 3-2 at home on Oct. 11.

Islanders forward Shane Prince made his season debut. Prince had ankle surgery in August and recently played four games with Bridgeport of the AHL.

The Ducks were coming off a 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden after losing 5-3 at New Jersey.

NOTES: Anaheim's leading scorer, Corey Perry, remained sidelined with a knee injury he sustained Dec. 11 at home against Carolina. ... The Islanders scratched forwards Alan Quine and Anthony Beauvillier, and defenseman Dennis Seidenberg. They were missing injured defenseman Calvin de Haan.

UP NEXT

Ducks: Finish their road trip Saturday afternoon at Pittsburgh before the Christmas break.

Islanders: Host the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday afternoon.

Red Wings beat homeward-bound Isles

NEW YORK -- The New York Islanders are expected to achieve a goal decades in the making Wednesday afternoon, when a press conference will be held on Long Island announcing the Islanders' owners have won their bid to build a new arena on the Nassau/Queens border.

Now an even bigger challenge awaits for the Islanders: Fixing one of the leakiest goaltending units in the NHL.

The Detroit Red Wings scored the final four goals Tuesday night as they overcame a drastic disadvantage in shots to beat the Islanders 6-3 at Barclays Center.

The Red Wings were outshot 37-22 but were playing on a particularly titled ice in the first two periods, when they were outshot 32-10, including 23-4 in the second. But Detroit managed to enter the second intermission in a 3-3 tie thanks to Anthony Mantha's goal with 4:45 remaining.

"A bit lucky for us, we (hadn't) played that great," said Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg, who collected three assists to earn first star honors. "But we were in the game. Just wanted to go out and play a good 20 minutes and that's what we did and got two points."

Zetterberg assisted on Mantha's goal -- he missed a back-handed shot into a wide-open right corner of the net before Mantha put back the rebound -- as well as on Trevor Daley's game-winner with 9:57 remaining in the third.

The Red Wings added insurance goals when Mike Green scored with 5:48 left and Luke Glendening produced an empty-netter with 28.1 seconds remaining.

"There's no question about it, through the first two periods, really, I think we were fortunate to be in the game," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I will say this, though: I thought we came out in the third and played great. I thought we really played hard. I thought we played to win. I thought we made a lot of plays. I thought we skated and I thought we won lots of puck battles."

Martin Frk and Gustav Nyquist scored in the first period for the Red Wings (13-13-7), who have won two straight following a hard-luck 11-game skid in which they went 1-5-5. Goalie Petr Mrazek, making his first start since Dec. 2, recorded 34 saves.

"We've played lots of really good games this year where we haven't won," Blashill said. "And this wasn't our best game, but we found a way to win. We have to do that also."

The seventh loss in the last 10 games for the Islanders (18-13-3) dampened the good mood of an announced crowd of 10,511 that arrived at Barclays hours after Newsday reported the franchise's owners won a bid to build a new arena at Belmont Park. A press conference announcing the move back to Long Island is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Islanders played at Nassau Coliseum from the club's inception in 1972 until moving to Brooklyn in 2015. But fans have been displeased by the longer commute to Barclays Center as well as the arena's poor hockey sight lines.

"A good note in, I think, a frustrating time," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "I think it's great for the fans, it's great for the organization and everybody involved from the owners, they worked hard. Obviously I've heard what you heard and it feels like it's going to be good news."

The Islanders could certainly use some better news regarding their goaltenders. New York ranks second in the league in goals scored (121) and goals allowed (120).

Thomas Greiss, making his third straight start Tuesday, recorded 16 saves. Greiss and fellow co-starter Jaroslav Halak have combined for a save percentage of .871 in the last 10 games.

Weight, who has said the defensive struggles are a team-wide issue, continued to defend his goalies Tuesday night.

"Yes, I have confidence in my goalies, of course I do," said a curt Weight, who added he was "(ticked) off" about the Islanders' current predicament.

"They're going through a rough time now," Weight said. "It gets in your head and you feel like you cant give anything up."

Anders Lee, Ryan Pulock and Josh Bailey scored for the Islanders. Bailey, who has scored a goal in three straight games (five total) and recorded a point in six consecutive contests (11 points), was named the third star of the week by the NHL on Monday.

NOTES: The Islanders scratched C Shane Prince (conditioning stint) as well as D Thomas Hickey and C Alan Quine. ... Islanders D Calvin de Haan (shoulder) was placed on injured reserve Monday with an injury sustained in Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Kings. Newsday reported de Haan could miss the rest of the regular season. Hickey, who missed the previous four games with an upper-body injury, was activated in a corresponding move. ... The Red Wings scratched LW David Booth and D Xavier Ouellet. ... Red Wings G Petr Mrazek played a full game for the first time since Nov. 9.

Islanders get Belmont Park site

Corey Sipkin/New York Post

NY Post Sports Desk

The Islanders are returning to Long Island.

After three seasons in Brooklyn on the miserable ice at Barclays Center, the Islanders have been awarded the rights to the Belmont Park for their new arena, The Post’s Rich Calder confirmed.

The team was competing with MLS’ New York City FC, who planned for a 26,000-seat stadium at the site.

“It’d be great for the fans and the city and the franchise and everything else. … We’re all hopeful and we’re all anticipatory but you don’t want to get ahead of yourself,” Islanders coach Doug Weight said before the announcement.

The Islanders’ plan calls for an 18,000-seat arena that will include an entertainment hub, hotel and retail village. The team is seeking to get out of its 25-year lease at the Barclays Center.

Bailey Named NHL Third Star of the Week

By New York Islanders PR

Photo: New York Islanders

The National Hockey League announced today that Josh Bailey has been named the Third Star of the Week.

Baileys scored eight points (4G, 4A) in four games including his first career hat trick on Thursday night in Columbus. Bailey recorded a point in every game last week and is currently riding a five game point streak and a three game multi-point streak. His eight points ranked second in the NHL behind teammate John Tavares (nine points).

Bailey co-leads the Islanders in points with 40 (9G, 31A) and leads the team with 31 assists. His 31 helpers currently rank second in the NHL.

In Saturday night's overtime win over the Los Angeles Kings, Bailey and Tavares become the first Islanders since 1993-94 (Pierre Turgeon) to hit the 40 point mark in the team's first 33 games.

This is Bailey's second time winning NHL Star of the Week honors this season. He was named the NHL's Second Star of the Week on Nov. 6.

Isles top Caps to snap skid

NEW YORK -- There's nothing easy about the commute to Barclays Center for the New York Islanders. But for the Islanders players who live on Long Island, getting to Monday's game by navigating traffic along the New York-area highways or dealing with the train felt like vacation compared to what they went through last week.

Brock Nelson scored just 2:36 into the first period Monday night to give the road-weary Islanders a lead they would never relinquish in a 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals at Barclays Center.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Islanders (17-10-3), who came back early Sunday morning from a 1-2-1 road trip in which they never left the Eastern time zone yet arrived home feeling as drained as they would from a cross-country trek.

"For an Eastern Conference road trip, that week felt like three for some reason," New York captain John Tavares said. "We just seemed flat those last couple of games."

The Islanders opened the trip with a 5-4 shootout win over the Florida Panthers before falling to Tampa Bay (6-2), Pittsburgh (4-3 in overtime) and Boston (3-1). The real exhaustion set in during a delayed trip back from Boston through the season's first snowstorm following Saturday's game.

"We had a tough time getting back from Boston," left winger Andrew Ladd said. "I felt it played a role in terms of how we felt yesterday morning."

Ladd, who has played 551 of his 877 career games in the far-flung Western Conference, grinned and said the recent trip was nothing like those he experienced earlier in his career.

Even head coach Doug Weight, who played 990 games for Western Conference teams, noticed his players dragging during and after the trip.

"Florida, Tampa Bay, Pitt, Boston, it shouldn't be a bone-crushing, terrible four-game trip -- we sound like spoiled Easterners, but I think we all felt it," Weight said. "I think I heard it from a lot of guys coming back that didn't think they were going to feel that way. They're not a group that comes in and says 'I'm tired' so they don't have to skate or beg for days off. It was good to have a day off (Sunday)."

Nelson's goal provided a much-needed spark for the Islanders, who allowed the opponent to score first in each of the previous five games. New York opened the second in even quicker fashion when Ladd and Tavares scored in a 58-second span within the first two minutes to chase Capitals goalie Braden Holtby.

"You look at all the goals, they came early in the periods," Washington head coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought they came out a little bit better than us. I thought they were just a little quicker early."

The Capitals ended the shutout bid of Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak (31 saves) when Dmitry Orlov scored 8:23 into the third. But Washington didn't mount another serious challenge, even after pulling Philipp Grubauer with a little less than three minutes remaining.

"Just coming home, I think being in our own bed and (getting) some home-cooked food just seemed to do the trick," Tavares said.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Capitals (19-11-1), who fell into a tie for second in the Metropolitan Division with the Islanders. The two teams are two points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Washington has won seven of its last nine games (7-2-0).

"Everyone knows we didn't really have our best game tonight, so that's a bit of a wakeup call," Capitals right winger Tom Wilson said. "We know them very well, they played us hard, they played us smart. We didn't seem to have the legs in order to compete against them tonight."

Holtby made nine saves while Grubauer stopped all 17 shots he faced.

NOTES: The Islanders scratched D Johnny Boychuk (lower body), who missed his third straight game, as well as C Shane Prince and C Alan Quine. ... Prince, who has been out all season with an ankle injury, was activated Sunday and loaned to Bridgeport of the AHL on a conditioning assignment. In a corresponding transaction, D Thomas Hickey (upper body) was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Saturday. ... The Capitals scratched RW T.J. Oshie (upper body), who missed his third consecutive game, as well as D Taylor Chorney. ... Capitals G Braden Holtby was lifted from a game for the third time this season. He was pulled in the second period of a 6-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 26, and yanked after two periods of a 6-3 loss to the Nashville Predators on Nov. 14.

Penguins prevail in OT vs. Isles

PITTSBURGH -- His team had given up a two-goal lead in the third period and he was feeling some fatigue during a long shift in overtime, so Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Matt Hunwick was relieved in more ways than one when he scored.

Hunwick slipped the puck past the right skate of New York Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak 1:29 into the extra session to give the Penguins a 4-3 win Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Hunwick's third goal of the season and first in overtime in his career came after Bryan Rust drove through the crease with the puck. A video review confirmed he did not interfere with Halak.

The play started down the ice.

"I saw one of their guys changing, so it was a chance to create a three-on-two," Hunwick said. "You hope you score there because if I had to go back down the ice and play (defense) again, I'd probably be pretty tired."

Hunwick was on the ice primarily because Justin Schultz, often an overtime choice for Pittsburgh, is hurt, but also because coach Mike Sullivan thought Hunwick deserved to be there.

"He can really skate," Sullivan said. "He's a mobile guy and there's a lot of ice out there. The guys that tend to have foot speed have an advantage. Matt's a guy we can use in that situation because of his mobility."

Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel scored in the first period, and Jordan Eberle tied it in the second. After Phil Kessel and Riley Sheahan scored 32 seconds apart in the third period for a 3-1 Pittsburgh lead, New York's Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson answered for a 3-3 tie.

Kris Letang added two assists for the Penguins.

"We found a way to get one (point). We battled back in the end," Eberle said. "It was a good road game. Going into the third with a 1-1 game, they make it 3-1 and we battled back. It was a weird game (from) that aspect, but I guess you can salvage a point and be happy about that."

The Penguins (16-11-3) pulled even with the Islanders (16-9-3), who began the night a point ahead of the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.

Pittsburgh has won five of six overall. It has a five-game home point streak (4-0-1) against the Islanders and is 7-1-1 against them in the past nine meetings at PPG Paints Arena.

Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry is 5-1-0 in his past six appearances after making 23 saves. Halak stopped 28 shots.

Jarry, a rookie filling in for injured No. 1 goaltender Matt Murray, got a close-up look at Pittsburgh's resilience after giving up the two-goal lead.

"In tough times the team comes together that much tighter," he said. "It's something they pride themselves on. They've taken pride in that the last couple years. That's a big thing, and that helps in overtime."

Pittsburgh put the puck in the net at 8:10 of the first, but it was immediately waved off because Guentzel got his glove on the puck, knocking it upward, and when it landed it trickled into the net before he could get his stick on it.

Guentzel got a goal that counted, a power-play version, at 12:17 of the first with a deft backward deflection just above the crease on a Letang slap shot from the right point for a 1-0 lead.

Eberle tied it at 5:53 of the second. As Jarry was trying to corral a loose puck in the crease with his glove, Eberle swooped in and jabbed it over the goal line.

A blast by Kessel from the left dot past Halak's glove at 7:29 of the third gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead and its second power-play goal. Sidney Crosby earned an assist, giving him an 11-game point streak (seven goals, 19 points) against the Islanders.

Sheahan, playing on his 26th birthday, scored his first since Nov. 16 after Halak went far out of his net to play the puck, scrambled back and was out of position when Sheahan roofed a shot for a 3-1 lead at 8:01 of the third.

Barzal swept it past Jarry from the slot at 15:07 of the third, the rookie's eighth goal and 27th point, to make it 3-2.

"That's a big goal," said Nelson, who followed by tying it with Halak pulled with 1:10 to go to send it to overtime. "We had a little bit of a push. We didn't have as many chances as we would like and that was a big-time goal to give us a little bit more momentum. We definitely fed off that. I think after that, we had a few good looks and could've won it there toward the end."

NOTES: Pittsburgh RW Tom Kuhnhackl left in the second period after a collision with teammate Ryan Reaves. There was no update on his status. ... New York C Casey Cizikas was activated from injured reserve and returned after missing four games because of a lower-body injury. ... Pittsburgh D Justin Schultz missed his first game because of a lower-body injury and was placed on IR. Coach Mike Sullivan indicated Schultz's absence could be a couple weeks. ... Pittsburgh D Frank Corrado was recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but did not dress. D Chad Ruhwedel dressed for the first time in four games.

Lightning overpower Islanders

TAMPA, Fla. -- They came in as the top two scoring teams in the NHL, but the Tampa Bay Lightning looked more like it Tuesday night.

The Lightning pulled away from the New York Islanders, scoring three goals in three minutes late in the second period on the way to a 6-2 victory at Amalie Arena.

Tampa Bay (19-6-2) saw a 2-0 lead disappear on a quick pair of Islanders goals in the second period, but answered in a big way.

Yanni Gourde scored twice in 94 seconds -- first a power-play goal with 3:38 left in the second, then an even-strength goal with 2:04 left -- for a 4-2 lead, and Vladislav Namestnikov added another goal four seconds into the next power play with 1:14 left in the period.

"Obviously, you want to be around the net. This is where you score goals," Gourde said. "I'm going to continue doing that. I think that's where most goals are scored."

New York (16-9-2) rallied back from a 2-0 deficit with two goals in less than two minutes. Rookie Mathew Barzal scored on his seventh goal of the season on the power play with 12:53 left, and had the assist on Jordan Eberle's 11th goal of the season with 11:02 remaining to tie the game.

"The only positive you can take from the game is that they're one of the best if not the best team in the league, and in the second period, it was completely flipflopped," Eberle said. "We know how we can play. We just need to do it for a full 60 minutes."

Tampa Bay jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a dominant first period, outshooting the Islanders 11-2. Brayden Point scored 34 seconds into the game for his 10th goal, and defenseman Andrej Sustr scored with 2:13 left in the first on his second goal of the season.

Chris Kunitz added a goal in the third period off a steal and breakaway for his fourth goal of the season, with 14 minutes remaining.

"We had a really good first, took our foot off the gas, but they're a really good team," Kunitz said. "They're going to capitalize on turnovers and chances.

Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss gave up six goals on 32 shots, while Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy (29 saves) picked up his NHL-high 18th win.

Two weeks ago, the Islanders had handed the Lightning a 5-3 loss in the same building, but John Tavares said his team was much more careful with the puck in that game.

"I felt like we managed the puck extremely poorly, turned it over a lot," Tavares said. "They're obviously a very good hockey team. They make plays, have some great shooters and they put pressure on you. We made it too easy for them."

Gourde recorded his seventh and eighth goals of the season and has four goals in two games against the Islanders, compared to four in 26 games against everyone else. The Lightning, who have the league's top power play, have power-play goals in seven straight games, going 4-for-8 in the last three.

New York, which had picked up a shootout win at Florida on Monday night, missed a chance for their second back-to-back sweep in seven chances this season. The Lightning dominated early and expected a strong second period from the Islanders, who dominated for 15 minutes but saw things slip away in the final minutes of the period.

"Thankfully, Yanni Gourde came to the rescue at the end of the second, gave us a big lift, and we took it home from there," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "He's always going against the Islanders. He plays with lots of energy and I thought that line was really good tonight, with (Cory) Conacher and (Alex) Killorn. They were hunting pucks, they were hounding, and they were rewarded."

Tampa Bay passed the Islanders for the league in goals with 100, one ahead of New York.

NOTES: Lightning D Braydon Coburn missed a second straight game with a lower-body injury, with RW J.T. Brown and D Jamie McBain as healthy scratches. ... The Islanders had D Dennis Seidenberg and D Thomas Hickey as healthy scratches. ... The Lightning continue a four-game homestand on Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche. ... The Islanders continue a four-game road trip Thursday at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Barzal lifts Islanders in shootout

SUNRISE, Fla. -- New York Islanders rookie center Mathew Barzal wanted a chance at his first NHL shootout attempt ... so he did the only think he could think of -- he kept his eyes trained on his coach, Doug Weight.

Barzal's plan didn't work at first. Weight chose Jordan Eberle, who was stopped by goalie James Reimer, and John Tavares, who fell, got up and also got stuffed.

"Johnny (Tavares) slipped on a banana peel," Weight joked.

Finally, after three Florida Panthers had failed to score a shootout goal, Weight turned to Barzal, and the 20-year-old Canadian delivered, giving the Islanders a wild 5-4 win on Monday night at the BB&T Center.

"He wouldn't stop staring at me as I picked the first two guys," Weight said when asked why he chose Barzal. "I wouldn't look at him.

"He's a confident kid. He was excited. He wanted to get out there."

New York, which entered Monday with the highest-scoring offense in the NHL at 3.72 goals per game, took advantage of an injury to opposing goalie Roberto Luongo, who left in the second period due to an injury.

The Islanders, who have scored five or more goals 13 times in 26 games, provided great offensive support for goalie Jaroslav Halak, who made 39 saves.

New York (16-8-2) also got scores from Anders Lee, Thomas Hickey, Brock Nelson and Tavares. Lee's goal was No. 100 in his career.

Luongo, fourth in NHL history with 459 wins, was removed from the game with 17:29 left in the second period. He appeared to injure his right leg while making a kick save on a shot by Ryan Pulock.

Florida replaced Luongo, who had allowed just 18 goals in his past nine games, with backup Reimer, who inherited a 1-1 score and took the loss.

Reimer said losing Luongo was a tough blow emotionally.

"My first thought was that he was going to get up, and you hope it's just a minor tweak," Reimer said. "It's never fun when you see your partner go down. I'm hoping for the best for him, and, at the same time, you're trying to get yourself into the game."

The Panthers (10-13-4) got goals from Keith Yandle, Aaron Ekblad, Aleksander Barkov and Denis Malgin.

Panthers coach Bob Boughner, who said Luongo was "hobbling" after the game, said more will be known about the injury on Tuesday.

"It's a pretty traumatic thing," said Boughner, referring to the team's emotions following the loss of Luongo.

Early on, though, the Panthers were looking good.

Florida opened the scoring with 10:25 elapsed in the first period. Yandle pounced on a loose puck, unleashing a shot from the point that beat Halak glove-side.

The Islanders tied the score three minutes later. Lee grabbed a rebound off the end boards and beat Luongo between his pads.

There were five goals scored in the frantic third period.

Reimer had only been in for three minutes when he allowed a soft goal by Hickey, who shot the puck from the side boards. Reimer fought the fluttering puck and managed to block it before accidentally kicking it into his own goal with his right leg.

Florida surged back with its power play. After failing to score with a two-man advantage, the Panthers, still on a 5-on-4 power play, got a goal by Ekblad, who used a Jonathan Huberdeau screen to tie the score 2-2.

Barkov's power-play goal gave Florida a 3-2 lead, but New York closed the period with the goals by Nelson and Tavares, which came just two minutes apart.

Florida tied the score 4-4 with 5:06 expired in the third period. Vinny Trocheck won a puck battle along the end boards and passed the puck to Malgin, who scored from the slot.

That was the last puck that went in until Barzal got the call from Weight.

"I didn't have a move -- I just tried to read (Reimer)," Barzal said. "I got in tight, and I went to my backhand. I threw a couple of hesitations in there, but he didn't bite. I was lucky to get the backhand up."

If Barzal was lucky, Weight, 46, was relieved.

Asked about the emotional win, Weight muttered: "I'm too old for this."

NOTES: Islanders C Casey Cizikas (four goals, four assists) missed his third straight game due to a lower-body injury. ... Florida moved RW Nick Bjugstad to the top line, along with C Aleksander Barkov and LW Jonathan Huberdeau. Bjugstad replaces Evgenii Dadonov (shoulder), who is out at least four weeks. ... Panthers RW Denis Malgin, who played on the top line for the first two games after Dadonov was injured, has been moved to the second unit with C Vincent Trocheck and LW Jamie McGinn. ... Florida scratched LW Henrik Haapala, LW Dryden Hunt and D MacKenzie Weegar. ... The Islanders scratched D Dennis Seidenberg and D Scott Mayfield.

Teravainen scores twice, Hurricanes beat Islanders 4-2

By MIKE POTTER
Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Sebastian Aho’s scoring surge seems to be rubbing off on his teammates.

Aho had a goal and two assists, Teuvo Teravainen scored twice and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 4-2 on Sunday night.

Aho has scored in four straight games after failing to get a goal in his first 15 games this season. Carolina has won three of those four games, including Saturday night over Buffalo.

“It was a good weekend,” Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said. “Today we started well and that’s what we want to be part of our foundation.”

Elias Lindholm also scored for the Hurricanes, and Cam Ward stopped 27 shots. John Tavares and Nick Leddy scored for New York, and Jaroslav Halak made 28 saves.

The Islanders beat Carolina 6-4 on Thursday night in Brooklyn.

“It’s cliché, but in a game like this, you just want to take care of your own business,” Ward said. “They have lines that can really score. Tonight was gutsy. My job is to be the last line of defense. At times it was a bit scrambly, but it was a matter of competing and getting to the puck.”

Aho has four goals and 13 assists this season, while Teravainen has eight goals and 11 assists. Their center, captain Jordan Staal, has six goals and nine assists.

“I don’t think the team is leaning on us in any way,” Teravainen said. “We’ve got four good lines that can score. I think any line can come in and win some games for us. But it’s all about confidence. And it’s always more fun to play with a little smile out there.”

Carolina led 3-1 after the first, outshooting the visitors 16-6.

Aho opened the scoring at 1:50, converting on a power play from the right circle with Teravainen on the primary assist. Teravainen made it 2-0 at 3:46, beating Halak from the left circle.

Leddy cut the lead to 2-1 with some fancy stickwork on a rush for an unassisted goal at 10:44.

Lindholm came back to put the Hurricanes up 3-1 in transition at 17:13.

Teravainen got his second of the night at 17:40 of the second, scoring on a power play.

Tavares cut it to 4-2 for New York when he got his 15th of the season on a follow shot at 13:13 of the third.

“We had really good second and third periods and opportunities to make it a really good hockey game,” said Islanders coach Doug Weight, who was a member of Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup championship team. “On the first (goal) we just fell asleep on a faceoff and Jaro had no chance, and on the second it was just a bad break — it hits Pelle’s skate and all of a sudden it’s a harmless 2-on-3 rush and it’s two-zip.”

NOTES: Teravainen was playing in his 100th game for Carolina. ... Islanders captain Andrew Ladd is a former Hurricane. ... Islanders RW Cal Clutterbuck was out with an illness. ... New York D and former Hurricane Dennis Seidenberg was a healthy extra along with teammate D Scott Mayfield. ... Carolina C Victor Rask and D Haydn Fleury were healthy scratches. ... The teams’ other meetings this season are in Raleigh on Feb. 16 and New York on March 18.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host Philadelphia on Wednesday night for the opener of a back-to-back with the Flyers.

Hurricanes: Host the New York Rangers on Wednesday night in the second of a four-game homestand.

GAME DAY: Isles in Tampa to face Lightning

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (10-6-2) AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (15-2-2)

7 P.M. AMALIE ARENA

TV: MSG+ MSG GO

RADIO: 88.7FM, 101.9FM, 660AM

The Islanders and the Lightning are playing their first of three meetings this season and first of two at AMALIE Arena. The two teams will play again in 17 days (Dec. 5) in Tampa.

A win tonight will not be easy, and the Isles know it.

"The key tonight's isn't going to be who scores the most goals, it's going to be who plays well defensively," said Isles forward Jordan Eberle. "We have to be ready to do that."

The Islanders are 2-1-0 in their last three games.

LINEUP NOTES

Greiss in goal: Isles coach Doug Weight said on Saturday morning that Thomas Greiss will start in goal for the team on Saturday In nine appearances in 2017-17, Greiss is 5-2-2 with a 3.37 GAA, and a .902 SV%.

Forwards and D: Weight also said that the Isles defensive pairings for Saturday will stay the same as from the team's last outing, but that the Isles' forwars pairings are to be decided later.

Tampa's Starter: Andrei Vasilevsky is expected to start in goal for the Lightning. He leads the NHL this season with 14 wins and has won 4-straight starts and is 13-0-1 over last 14.

ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINEUP

(Subject to Change)

FORWARDS

LW-C-RW

Les-Tavares-Bailey
Ladd-Barzal-Eberle
Beauvillier-Nelson-HoSang
Chimera-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

DEFENSE

Leddy-Boychuk
DeHaan-Pelech
Hickey-Pulock

LIGHTNING PROJECTED LINEUP

(Subject To Change)

FORWARDS

LW-C-RW

Namestnikov-Stamkos-Kucherov
Palat-Point-Gourde
Kunitz-Brown-Callahan
Killorn-Johnson

DEFENSE

Hedman-Dotchin
Sergachev-Stralman
Coburn-Girardi
Sustr

BRAVO, JOHNNY

John Tavares' 13 goal mark is good for second in the NHL. Two weeks ago, Islanders captain  Tavares  earned the NHL's top honors as First Star of the Week for the week ending on Oct. 29 after recording two hat tricks in three games. Tavares joined Mike Bossy and Ziggy Palffy as the only Islanders to score two hat tricks in a span of three games or fewer. Tavares is now tied for third in Islanders franchise history with eight career hat tricks.

JOSH'IN AROUND

Isles' veteran forward,  Josh Bailey  is off to a hot start in the 2017-18 campaign. On Nov. 6, Bailey was named the No. 2 Star of the week for the week ending on Nov. 5. Bailey, the Islanders longest active tenured player, saw his career-long nine game point streak come to an end on Tuesday vs. EDM. Bailey's three helpers on Oct. 30 vs. VGK made him the first Islander to post at least 11 assists in the month of October since 1997 (Robert Reichel, 12).

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

The Islanders are 25-4-5 all-time vs. Western Conference opponents at Barclay Center. Starting on Oct. 21 vs SJS, the Islanders will play 9 of their next 10 games against Western Conference teams (five at home). This season the Islanders are 4-0-2 against the West at home.

WEIGHING-IN

In Saturday night's win over the Predators in Nashville, Head coach, Doug Weight became the fastest Islanders coach to 30 wins (51 games) beating Peter Laviolette (60 games) and Ted Nolan (61 games). Weight is 34-18-6 as the Islanders head coach.

THREES COMPANY

The Islanders are 10-2-0 when scoring at least three goals (including SO winners). They are 0-4-2 when they do not hit the three-goal mark.  

IRONMEN

Jason Chimera  is the Islanders reigning ironman with 206 consecutive games played (106 w/ WSH, 100 with NYI). Jordan Eberle  is second with 169 straight games (151 with EDM).  Josh Bailey  holds the longest ironman streak in an Isles uniform (167).

MOVING ON UP

John Tavares  continues to move up the Islanders record books this season. So far this season, Tavares (605 GP, 248 G, 308A, 556P) has passes both Garry Howatt (596) and John Tonelli (594) in games played for the franchise. He also passed Bob Nystrom (235) and Bob Bourne (238) in goals, Boune in assists (304) and Bourne (542) and Tonelli (544) in points.  

THE OPPOSITION

Tampa Bay continues to pace the NHL for wins (15), points (32), points percentage (.842) and goal differential (+30). The Lightning areoff to their best start in franchise history with 32 points and a 15-2-2 record through 19 games, four points better than the 28 put up bythe 2013-14 (14-5-0) and 2014-15 (13-4-2) teams through 19 games. Tampa Bay's 15-2-2 record and .842 points percentage is thebest in the NHL through 19 games since Chicago started the 2012-13 season with a 16-0-3 record and .921 points percentage.

The Bolts lead the NHL for goals per game 4.00 and are tied for second in the Leauge for goals allowed per game at 2.42 (no other NHLteam ranks in the top 8 in both categories). Tampa Bay is on a season-long five-game winning streak and has outscored opponents22-9 over that stretch.

Tampa Bay has nine players currently with 10 or more points, tied with CHI, PIT and TOR for most in the NHL. The Lightning have scored five or more goals eight times this year, tied with the Islanders for most in the League...The Bolts have netted a power-play goal in 16 of 19 games this season and pace the NHL for power-play markers (21).

The Lightning have three players --  Anton Stralman (+15), Steven Stamkos  (+13) and  Nikita Kucherov (+12) -- in the top 10 in the NHL for plus/minus.

Boychuk’s go-ahead goal helps Islanders beat Hurricanes 6-4

By VIN A. CHERWOO
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Islanders scored six goals again. They had a dominant third period to pull out another win and remained one of two NHL teams without a regulation loss at home.

Still, coach Doug Weight found plenty of things he didn’t like.

Johnny Boychuk scored the tiebreaking goal on a slap shot with 4:25 remaining and the Islanders rallied to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-4 Thursday night.

New York took a 3-1 lead in the first period but gave up three goals in the second to fall behind before responding with three in the third.

“The second period you just get away from everything you did well,” Weight said. “We just go into 1-on-1 mode, hold the puck, decisions at the blue line start going south and then we get back to it in the third and we play a way better game.

“(We) can be so much better,” he added. “We’re getting there. It’s not a hopeless case.”

Mathew Barzal had a goal and two assists, and Nick Leddy, Josh Bailey and Cal Clutterbuck each had a goal and an assist to help the Islanders improve to 6-0-2 at home. Jordan Eberle added an empty-netter and Thomas Greiss finished with 28 saves.

Sebastian Aho had a goal and an assist, and Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanafin and Derek Ryan also scored for Carolina, which was 3-0-2 in its previous five. Scott Darling stopped 30 shots.

The Islanders trailed 4-3 after two periods and tied it at 7:22 of the third. Barzal sent a pass in front to Anders Lee at the right side, and he backhanded it to Bailey, who put it in from the left side for his fourth.

On the winner, Boychuk got a pass from Casey Cizikas at the right point and fired the puck past Darling.

“It was a good play and a key goal, but we were doing the right things and we got the result we wanted,” Boychuk said.

Eberle capped the scoring with 1:18 left for his seventh goal of the season, all in the last eight games.

“We did a great job getting back in the second and just got outworked in the third,” Carolina’s Jordan Staal said. “We have to find ways to stay stronger in the third and stick with it, keep the puck out of our net.”

Trailing 3-1 after one period, the Hurricanes turned it around and took the lead with a three-goal second.

Staal’s centering pass from the goal line on the right side deflected off Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech’s skate to the left side. Hanafin skated from behind the net and quickly put it into the open side to pull the Hurricanes within one at 2:54.

Ryan tied it for Carolina as he backhanded the rebound of a shot by Brett Pesce for his fourth with 8:41 remaining in the second.

Aho then gave the Hurricanes their first lead with 52 seconds left, scoring from the right side for his second of the season.

“It was a good win for us, but the second period was really sloppy,” Boychuk said. “We weren’t careful with the puck and (made) bad decisions and we let them back in the game.”

The Islanders outshot the Hurricanes 14-9 in the first period and led 3-1, with all the scoring coming in the final 3:39.

Barzal broke through first as he brought the puck up the left side on a 2-on-1 break with Eberle. Barzal thought about passing before firing the puck past Darling’s glove side for his fourth with 3:39 to go.

“We need Barzy on a nightly basis to bring it and he’s been pretty consistent to this point,” Weight said. “It’s been a good first 18 games for him. ... He’s feeling out the NHL hockey game right now.”

With Lee off for tripping, Clutterbuck doubled the lead 36 seconds later on a short-handed breakaway into the top right corner. It was the first short-handed goal given up by the Hurricanes this season.

Carolina was still on the power play when Lindholm deflected a shot by Aho from the left circle with 2:30 remaining.

Leddy made it 3-1 about two minutes later when his shot from the left circle beat Darling for his fourth.

NOTES: Teuvo Teravainen’s assist on Lindholm’s first-period goal was his 100th career point. ... Aho played in his 99th career game. ... The teams play three more times this season: on Sunday and Feb. 16 at Raleigh, North Carolina; and March 18 back in Brooklyn. ... Leddy has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his last 11 games. ... New York captain John Tavares played in his 605th game, one behind former teammate Frans Nielsen for 13th place on the franchise list. ... Jason Chimera played in his 206th consecutive game, including the last 100 with the Islanders.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: At Buffalo on Saturday night to wrap up a two-game trip.

Islanders: At Tampa Bay on Saturday night to open a back-to-back on the road.

Tavares starts Islanders’ 3-goal 1st in 5-2 win over Blues

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The New York Islanders didn’t wait very long to put a bad loss the previous night behind them.

John Tavares scored early to start New York’s three-goal first period, Thomas Greiss stopped 35 shots and the Islanders beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 Saturday night.

Anders Lee had a goal and an assist, and Casey Cizikas, Jordan Eberle and Joshua Ho-Sang also scored to help the Islanders bounce back from a 5-0 loss at Dallas one night earlier.

“As players we know we’re the ones that go out on the ice and obviously have to do the job and execute,” Tavares said. “The system and the framework that they want us to play with, we weren’t really close to that last night so we just wanted to get out there and be a lot more competitive like we know we can be.”

Greiss won for the third time in his last four starts for New York, which had just one win in its previous four games (1-2-1).

“In the beginning of the season it took a couple of games to get going and feel the puck,” Greiss said. “It always takes a little bit (for me) to get going.”

Tavares was very pleased with his goalie’s performance.

“He made some big saves,” Tavares said. “Any time you see your goalie locked in like that and making some big saves you want to reward him.”

Brayden Schenn and Scottie Upshall scored for the Blues, and Jake Allen had 14 saves before he was pulled after Ho-Sang put the Islanders up 4-0 at 3:35 of the second period. Carter Hutton came on and stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced.

After the Islanders mustered just 14 shots on goal in the loss to the Stars on Friday night, Tavares got them on the scoreboard 3:21 into the game as he came from behind the net and beat Allen from point-blank range.

Cizikas got the rebound of a shot by Nick Leddy and easily beat Allen to double the lead just past the midpoint of the period.

Eberle made it 3-0 as he took a pass from Jason Chimera on a 2-on-1 break and fired it past Allen on the glove side with 6:42 remaining for his sixth of the season and fourth in the last four games.

The Blues, who snapped three-game winning streak and lost for just the second time in their last nine games, had allowed only six first-period goals all season.

“That’s three games in a row now (with poor starts),” Blues coach Mike Yeo said. “We got away with it for two (games) so we’ve been playing with fire.”

Ho-Sang, called up from Bridgeport of the AHL earlier in the day to replace the injured Anthony Beauvillier, then chased Allen early in the second.

The Blues finally got on the board with 8 1/2 left in the second a wrist shot from Schenn. Upshall scored off a scrum in front of Greiss at 6:41 of the third to pull St. Louis to 4-2.

Lee capped the scoring on a deflection with 4 1/2 minutes to go.

“We took advantage of some plays, but we got pucks in,” Islanders coach Doug Weight said. “We were aggressive. We were skating.”

NOTES: The Blues wore camouflage jerseys during pregame warm-ups in honor of Veterans Day with the jerseys scheduled to be auctioned to benefit H.E.R.O.E.S Care and Operation Shower. ... Weight coached in St. Louis for the first time. Weight played parts of six seasons with the Blues. ... The Blues held a moment of silence for Arianna Dougan, the 11-year-old girl who Vladimir Tarasenko befriended last season and who spent time with the team on a road trip while fighting cancer. She passed away earlier in the day. ... Blues F Vladimir Sobotka played in his 400th career NHL game. ... The Islanders improved to 5-0-0 when scoring first this season.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host Carolina on Thursday night.

Blues: At Calgary on Monday night for the start of a three-game road trip.

Bishop, Stars shut out Islanders 5-0

Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — It was another nice night for John Klingberg. Ben Bishop, too.

Klingberg had a goal and two assists, Bishop recorded his 20th career shutout and the Stars beat the New York Islanders 5-0 on Friday.

The 25-year-old Klingberg leads NHL defensemen with 18 points.

“I see a young guy maturing,” coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He’s just got a calmness to the way he’s moving the puck, and it’s helping, not only helping him, but it’s helping his partner too.”

Klingberg’s partner, Esa Lindell, had a goal and an assist.

“I just feel like I’m playing a really good all-around game right now,” Klingberg said. “Felt really good. The confidence is good right now.”

Bishop made 14 saves in his first shutout of the season. He got some help 3 1/2 minutes into the second period when Tyler Seguin swept the puck away from the net to prevent an Islanders goal.

“Ben was really competitive and he was battling like crazy in the net,” Hitchcock said.

Klingberg got each of his points in the first. He put Dallas in front with his fourth goal 1:32 into the first, and then assisted on scores by Gemel Smith and Lindell.

Mattias Janmark added Dallas’ first short-handed goal of the season at 6:54 of the second, and Jason Spezza made it 5-0 with a power-play goal with 4 minutes left in the period. Spezza ended a 16-game goal drought.

The Stars seemed to benefit from some changes to their lines. With Seguin now centering the Stars’ second group, Smith was moved up to the top line. Jamie Benn has moved to center with Alexander Radulov on the right wing.

“It was a good feeling playing with that line, playing with two magicians,” Smith said.

Jaroslav Halak had 24 saves for the Islanders, who have allowed a league-high seven short-handed goals.

“Some heart would be nice to see,” Islanders coach Doug Weight told MSG Network after the game, “some work ethic, maybe following a game plan and maybe some consistency as far as getting pucks in.”

NOTES: Klingberg, Benn and Seguin entered the game tied for the Stars’ scoring lead with 15 points apiece. ... Radulov extended his points streak to seven games with his assist on Smith’s goal. ... New York rookie Mathew Barzal had a six-game points streak end. ... The Islanders’ Anthony Beauvillier was helped off the ice in the third period after a shot by Klingberg hit the defenseman’s right ankle. “You hate to see it,” Weight said. “It was the same exact spot twice. Hopefully he’s OK.” ... Dallas activated RW Brett Ritchie from injured reserve and placed Tyler Pitlick on IR. ... C Alan Quine returned from a conditioning assignment in the AHL to play his first game this season for the Islanders.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Complete a two-night, two-game trip on Saturday at St. Louis.

Stars: Begin a three-game trip on Monday at Carolina.

McDavid scores quickly in OT, Oilers beat Islanders 2-1

By DENIS P. GORMAN
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Connor McDavid stormed down the ice with Leon Draisaitl trailing a step behind. Two slick passes and a one-timer later, and the game was over.

McDavid scored 38 seconds into overtime to lead the Edmonton Oilers over the New York Islanders 2-1 on Tuesday night.

McDavid intercepted an off-target pass by John Tavares to start a 2-on-1. McDavid carried the puck into the New York end of the ice dropping the puck to Draisaitl, who flipped a behind-the-back pass to McDavid at the circle to set up a one-timer.

The goal was the sixth of the year for McDavid.

“Our two big guns took it down the ice and got us a win,” said Cam Talbot, who made 36 saves. “That’s what we look to them for in situations like that, and we got it tonight.”

Draisaitl also scored for Edmonton, which has won two of three to improve to 5-8-1.

“When you have the record we have right now, the right note’s winning all of them,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said.

The Islanders didn’t come out too disappointed, either, despite losing two of three and falling to 8-5-2. New York is 5-0-2 at Barclays Center this season.

“I knew it was going to be a tough game,” New York coach Doug Weight said. “They played one of their better games. We did as well.”

Thomas Greiss made 23 saves, and the Islanders got their goal from former Oiler Jordan Eberle. The first of two regular-season meetings between the teams also marked the first matchup since Edmonton traded Eberle to New York in June for Ryan Strome.

“It was really weird,” Eberle said. “As the game went on I settled in and started to play. I didn’t know what to expect. ... Your mind starts to settle in after the first (period).”

Each goalie made 17 saves before Draisaitl broke through to make it 1-0 1:59 into the second period. It was Draisaitl’s fourth goal of the season.

Eberle scored 2:44 later, snapping a shot from the right circle over Talbot’s glove.

Both teams tightened up defensively after that, although there were some scoring chances. McDavid had a short-handed semi-breakaway late in the second period, but New York defenseman Ryan Pulock’s effort took away shooting options from the reigning Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award winner. Early in the third, Zack Kassian couldn’t convert a side-of-the-goal shot attempt as Greiss came out to challenge.

NOTES: New York RW Josh Bailey’s nine-game point streak ended. Bailey leads the Islanders with 15 assists and 18 points. ... During the third period, New York announced LW Nikolay Kulemin would not return after suffering an upper body injury. He had been boarded by defenseman Eric Gryba in the second period.

UP NEXT

Oilers: Continue four-game East Coast trip Thursday night in New Jersey.

Islanders: Begin a two-game road trip Friday night in Dallas.

GAMEDAY: Eberle, Strome face former teams when Isles host Oilers

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (8-5-1) VS EDMONTON OILERS (4-8-1)

7 P.M. - BARCLAYS CENTER

TV: MSG+, MSG GO

RADIO: 88.7FM - WRHU, AM970 - The Answer, 103.9FM - LI News

Islanders forward Jordan Eberle and Oilers forward Ryan Strome are expected to face their former team for the first time since being traded for each other on June 22 when the Isles take on the Edmonton Oilers at Barclays Center on Tuesday night.

"There's a lot of excitement. There's a little more incentive to win," Eberle said. "You're going to play a team that you played for for a long time, so it'll be a good game and I'm looking forward to it."

Eberle – who recorded 165-217—382 in 507 games across seven seasons with Edmonton – ranks fifth among Islanders skaters with 4-7—11 in 14 games this season.

"I enjoyed my time there. They gave me a chance to start and gave me an opportunity and I went from there," Eberle said.

.@jeberle_7 faces off against his former team tonight. #EDMvsNYI #Isles pic.twitter.com/XKEcloZnst

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 7, 2017

Strome – who registered 45-81—126 in 258 games with the Islanders across four seasons – has five points (2-3—5 in 13 GP) for the Oilers in 2017-18.

"Obviously a lot of mixed feelings, especially seeing some friends last night brings back a lot of good memories," Strome said. "All in all it's been good. Great staff here, great teammates and everyone has made the transition pretty easy."

LINEUP NOTES

Greiss in goal: Thomas Greiss gets his second straight start for the Islanders. Greiss made 31 saves in his last outing, a 6-4 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Greiss is 4-0-2 with a 1.21 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage in six games against the Oilers. 

Hickey in, Seidenbreg out: Doug Weight is only making one change to his lineup, inserting Thomas Hickey and extracting Dennis Seidenberg. Hickey gets back into the lineup after sitting out Sunday's game. 

ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINES

FORWARDS

LW-C-RW

Lee-Tavares-Bailey
Ladd-Barzel-Eberle
Beauvillier-Nelson-Chimera
Kulemin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

DEFENSE

Leddy-Boychuck
de Haan-Mayfield
Hickey-Pulock

OILERS PROJECTED LINES

FORWARDS

LW-C-RW

Maroon-McDavid-Draisaitl
Lucic-Nugent Hopkins-Slepyshev
Caggiula-Strome-Jokinee
Pakarinen-Letestu-Kassian

DEFENSE

Nurse-Larsson
Klefbom-Benning
Russell-Gryba

BRAVO, JOHNNY

Last Monday, Islanders captain John Tavares earned the NHL's top honors as First Star of the Week for the week ending on Oct. 29. On Tuesday, Tavares recorded his first hat trick of the season against the Arizona Coyotes then followed it up on Saturday in Nashville when Tavares recorded the second natural hat trick of his career, scoring three goals in the third period and once again being named the game's No. 1 Star in the club’s 6-2 win over the Predators. Tavares joined Mike Bossy and Ziggy Palffy as the only Islanders to score two hat tricks in a span of three games or fewer. Tavares is now tied for third in Islanders franchise history with eight career hat tricks.

RAISING THE BAR(ZAL)

20 year-old rookie Mathew Barzal stayed hot on Sunday when he set an Islanders franchise rookie record with five assists in the game. Barzal is currently riding a five-game point streak and has posted 10 points over that five-game stretch.

JOSH'IN AROUND

Isles' veteran forward, Josh Bailey is off to a hot start in the 2017-18 campaign. On Monday, Bailey was named the No. 2 Star of the week for the week ending on Nov. 5. Bailey, the Islanders longest active tenured player, is currently riding a nine-game point streak, good for current longest in the NHL and of Bailey's career. Bailey's 15 assists ranks first on the Islanders and top 3 in the League. Bailey's three helpers on Oct. 30 vs. VGK made him the first Islander to post at least 11 assists in the month of October since 1997 (Robert Reichel, 12)

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

The Islanders are 25-4-4 all-time vs. Western Conference opponents at Barclay Center. Starting on Oct. 21 vs SJS, the Islanders will play 9 of their next 10 games against Western Conference teams (five at home). This season the Islanders are 4-0-1 against the West at home.

WEIGHING-IN

In Saturday night's win over the Predators in Nashville, Head coach, Doug Weight became the fastest Islanders coach to 30 wins (51 games) beating Peter Laviolette (60 games) and Ted Nolan (61 games). Weight is 32-17-5 as the Islanders head coach.

THREES COMPANY

The Islanders are 8-2-0 when scoring at least three goals (including SO winners). They are 0-3-1 when they do not hit the three-goal mark.

IRONMEN

Jason Chimera is the Islanders reigning ironman with 202 consecutive games played (106 w/ WSH, 96 with NYI). Jordan Eberle is second with 165 straight games (151 with EDM). Josh Bailey holds the longest ironman streak in an Isles uniform (163).

MOVING ON UP

John Tavares continues to move up the Islanders record books this season. So far this season, Tavares (601 GP, 247 G, 308A, 555P) has passes both Garry Howatt (596) and John Tonelli (594) in games played for the franchise. He also passed Bob Nystrom (235) and Bob Bourne (238) in goals, Boune in assists (304) and Bourne (542) and Tonelli (544) in points.

THE OPPOSITION

• Zack Kassian is one point from reaching 100 career NHL points.

• Talbot is two games from reaching 200 career NHL games.

• The Oilers rank second in the NHL with an average of 37.8 shots per game.

• The Oilers have had a lead or been tied after two periods in eight of their first 13 games.

• The 2-0 loss on Nov. 5 to Detroit marked the first time the Oilers had been shut out at home since Ottawa defeated the Oilers 2-0 on Oct. 30, 2016.

Bailey Named NHL Second Star of the Week

The National Hockey League announced today that Josh Bailey has been named the Second Star of the Week.

Bailey posted seven assists over three games to help the Islanders to a 2-1-0 record last week. Bailey opened the week with three assists against the Vegas Golden Knights helping him become the first Islander since 1997 to post 11 helpers in the month of October (R. Reichel). He followed up his career-month with back-to-back, two-assist nights in both Thursday's loss in Washington and Sunday's 6-4 win over Colorado. 

Bailey's seven points were tied for the most in the NHL last week, joining Islanders' rookie Mathew Barzal (one goal, six assists).  

Bailey is currently riding the NHL's longest active point streak (nine games) and assist streak (eight games), both good for his career-longs. Over his nine-game point streak that started back on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles, Bailey has totaled 16 points (2G, 14A), second most in the NHL over that time (Stamkos, 18). 

Bailey currently ranks tied for second in the NHL in assists with 15. 

This is Bailey's first time winning NHL Star of the Week honors.

Mathew Barzal has 5 assists, Islanders beat Avalanche 6-4

By CHRISTIAN ARNOLD
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Mathew Barzal put on a passing clinic for the New York Islanders.

Barzal had a franchise-rookie record five assists in the Islanders’ 6-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.

“It’s pretty cool I didn’t know,” Barzal said about the record. “Actually (Jordan Eberle) was saying maybe six would be a record, but we were just joking around. I had no idea, so that’s a pretty cool thing to do.”

Barzal becoming just the sixth player in Islanders’ history with five assists in a game, joining Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Stefan Persson, Brent Sutter and Pat LaFontaine.

Bossy set the team record of six assists in 1981. Barzal also tied a franchise-rookie record with five points in a game.

Eberle and Nick Leddy scored twice for New York, and Johnny Boychuk and Scott Mayfield also contributed goals. Thomas Greiss made 31 saves.

“It’s fun to play with him,” Eberle said about Barzal. “His speed is his number one attribute. I just want to create space for him.”

Alexander Kerfoot scored twice for Colorado, and Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog also connected.

The Islanders won for the sixth time in eight games and ended Colorado’s three-game winning streak. Sunday night was also the first time this season that three defensemen scored in a single game.

The wild night on the ice was nearly overshadowed off of it when Matt Duchene was traded from Colorado to Ottawa in deal that involved the Nashville Predators. Duchene stealthy left the ice when team trainers were helping injured Avs forward Blake Comeau off the ice in the middle of the first period.

Trade rumors had been swirling around Duchene since the start of the season and reports over the weekend suggested a trade between the three teams nearly took place prior to Sunday night.

“It’s very weird,” Duchene said. “Obviously, being pulled in a game then to be playing my first two games against my old team is gonna be pretty strange, but it was something I half expected. I have nothing but good things to say about my time here and my teammates. It’s been an absolute blast.”

Duchene left the arena in the middle of the second period, briefly speaking with reporters, before jumping into a black SUV waiting outside the Barclays Center.

The Islanders scored less than five minutes into the first period on a fluky goal from Mayfield. The defenseman skated from the point down to the side of the net, where Sven Andrighetto tried to sweep the puck away but inadvertently pushed it past his own goaltender.

Bailey was credited with the primary assist on the goal and extended his points streak to nine games.

Eberle gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead when he finished off a good feed from Barzal. The goal was Eberle’s third as an Islanders and the assist extended Barzal’s points streak to five games.

MacKinnon scored 40 seconds into the second period, briefly pulling Colorado within one goal. Leddy scored less than a minute later to put the Islanders back in front by two goals.

Leddy scored again moments later to give the Islanders a 4-1 lead. Boychuk scored off a shot from the point at 9:46 of the second period and Eberle scored his second of the game 1:23 into the third period.

Landeskog scored Colorado’s second goal at 13:02 of the second period on a scramble in front of the net. MacKinnon recorded an assist on the game extending his multi-point game streak to four.

Kerfoot scored the Avalanche’s third and fourth goals in the final minute of the game pulling them within two goals.

“They had some fortunate bounces, but that’s how sometimes the game works,” Erik Johnson said. “Minus the result, we were happy with the way we played. You never want to come up on the losing end, but as a group we played a pretty solid game.”

NOTES: The Islanders held a moment of silence before Sunday night’s game to honor the victims of the terror attack in New York City as well the victims in Sunday’s church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. ... The Islanders scratched defensemen Thomas Hickey and Adam Pelech against Colorado. Alan Quine was also listed as a scratch for New York. The Avalanche scratched defenseman Andrei Mironov. ... Sunday’s game against the Islanders was Colorado’s final one before leaving for Sweden. The Avalanche will play two games against the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm as part of the SAP NHL Global Series.

UP NEXT

Avalanche: Face Ottawa on Friday night in Stockholm.

Islanders: Host Edmonton on Tuesday night.

Eller scores twice, adds assist as Caps beat Isles 4-3

By STEPHEN WHYNO
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lars Eller looked determined not to let the Washington Capitals lose another game at home, so he took things into his own hands.

Eller scored two goals, including the winner late in the third period, and added an assist to help the Capitals beat the New York Islanders 4-3 on Thursday night. Though Washington was largely outplayed and outshot, the Danish center was arguably the best player on the ice, drawing two penalties and committing one as part of an eventful outing.

“Sometimes you have some games where most things are just going right for you,” Eller said after the Capitals improved to 2-3 at home. “And I think tonight was one of those games for our line and I think we even could’ve had a couple more.”

The Islanders could’ve had more goals, too, were it not for Vezina Trophy finalist Braden Holtby, who made 15 of his 35 saves in the third period. New York outshot Washington 38-19 and then 16-2 in the third period.

Holtby said the Capitals should feel “lucky” to win a game they would lose more often than not if repeated. The Islanders felt as if they deserved better.

“Should’ve had it,” coach Doug Weight said. “It would be nice to have it. It felt like we earned it. We battled. We gave up two shots in the third. It’s disappointing.”

Islanders captain John Tavares scored his 12th goal of the season, one behind Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov for the NHL lead, and Anders Lee had two goals. New York’s power play went 2 for 4 and has scored on seven of its past 14 opportunities after starting the season 2 for 33.

“You go through swings like this throughout the course of the year,” Islanders winger Josh Bailey said. “Early on, things weren’t going that well and we were able to tweak some things. And when you get hot you just want to ride it as long as you can.”

Eller was hot Thursday night from his first shift. He raced down the ice on a backcheck and sent the puck up ice to set up Taylor Chorney’s goal, just the fourth time the Capitals scored first in 13 games.

Starting strong was a point of emphasis in recent days, and Chorney’s first goal since Jan. 1 set a more positive tone.

“I feel like we’ve been chasing the game lately,” said Alex Chiasson, who scored his first goal with the Capitals to make it 3-2 in the second. “It’s nice to get on the board early. I think it allows the coach to roll four lines a little more and get everyone into their game.”

Eller scored his second goal of the season late in the first period and then came up huge with the game winner, beating Jaroslav Halak on a slap shot off the rush with 3:21 left to put the Capitals ahead for good. Eller went to Montreal and Halak to St. Louis when they were traded for each other in 2010.

“He was flying all over the ice, both sides of the puck,” Chorney said about Eller. “When Lars is moving his feet like that, he’s such a strong guy. He’s tough to contain. You could tell he was playing with a lot of confidence tonight, and he got rewarded for it.”

Eller only had the chance to put Washington ahead because Holtby withstood an Islanders onslaught in the third. He made two big saves on a late penalty kill and was up to the task when the ice was tilted in his direction.

“He just didn’t look fazed at all,” defenseman John Carlson said. “Every big save he had to come up with, he did for us throughout the whole game.”

NOTES: Halak finished with 15 saves. ... Islanders D Adam Pelech didn’t make the trip and is day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Return home to face the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night.

Capitals: Visit the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

Tavares helps Islanders cool off Golden Knights, 6-3

By VIN A. CHERWOO
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — John Tavares and the New York Islanders are on quite a roll.

Tavares kept up his scoring surge with two more goals and the Islanders beat Vegas 6-3 on Monday night, handing the expansion Golden Knights their second loss of the season.

Andrew Ladd, Mathew Barzal, Cal Clutterbuck and Nikolay Kulemin also scored, and Jaroslav Halak stopped 31 shots to help New York win for the fifth time in six games. Tavares has eight goals in the last four games.

“Guys did a great job of creating chances, playing hard, winning battles and playing with pace again,” Tavares said. “We had contributions up and down the lineup. Obviously, that’s key to score six goals. ... The execution is there and we’re just competing really hard.”

William Karlsson, Alex Tuch and Colin Miller scored for Vegas (8-2-0), which snapped a five-game winning streak and lost another goalie to injury. With starter Marc-Andre Fleury and backup Malcolm Subban already sidelined, Oscar Dansk left with an apparent leg injury after Tavares scored the tying goal late in the second period.

Dansk, who came in 3-0 with an NHL-best 1.34 goals-against average, made 17 saves. Maxime Lagace, the fourth goalie Vegas has used in its inaugural season, came on for his NHL debut and gave up four goals on 11 shots.

“We didn’t help Max out,” Miller said. “He’s getting thrown in the fire a little bit. I’m sure he’ll do fine. He’s played hockey for a long time. I’m sure he’ll be all right.”

Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant didn’t have an update on Dansk after the game. He said Lagace would start Tuesday at the New York Rangers, and another goalie would be called up to be the backup.

Vegas led 2-1 after one period before Tavares tied the score with his 10th goal with 5:10 left, deflecting a shot by Nick Leddy past Dansk, who was injured on the play. The Golden Knights challenged for goalie interference, but the goal stood after a review.

With Reilly Smith off for high-sticking, Barzal gave the Islanders their first lead as he knocked in the rebound of a backhand by Anders Lee that went off the right post for his third.

Smith’s penalty was the Golden Knights’ third of the second period and fifth of the game.

“If we’re going to win on the road, you can’t take five penalties in the first two periods and get behind the 8-ball there,” Gallant said. “When the game was real close we made a couple of big mistakes there and opened the door for them to get six goals.”

Clutterbuck extended New York’s lead to 4-2 at 4:44 of the third as he skated up the right side and fired the puck past Lagace’s glove for his second.

Kulemin made it a three-goal lead with his first of the season at 8:26 of the third.

Tavares scored on a breakaway with 7:22 left for his 11th of the season, giving New York six goals for the second straight game.

“We built some good momentum,” Tavares said. “Now it’s just to keep it going. It’s a long season.”

Miller beat Halak from the right circle with 5:19 to go to pull Vegas to 6-3.

Vegas got on the scoreboard first with the first short-handed goal in franchise history as Karlsson got a pass from Cody Eakin and beat Halak, who was out of position trying to disrupt the pass, at 9:31. It was the sixth short-handed goal allowed by the Islanders, tying Buffalo for most in the NHL.

“Yet another short-handed goal against — it just can’t happen,” Islanders coach Doug Weight said. “I’m glad they battled back, put pucks to the net and scored on a couple of power plays.”

Ladd tied it with 6:10 remaining in the period as he fired a shot from the top of the right circle past Dansk’s blocker side for his third.

The Golden Knights went back ahead 2-1 nearly two minutes later with a power-play goal when Miller’s shot deflected off Tuch’s skate in front and past Halak. It was Tuch’s third of the season.

NOTES: Tavares has nine goals and 12 points in the last five games. ... Josh Bailey had three assists to give him points in seven straight games (two goals, 10 assists). ... The Islanders improved to 4-0-1 at home this season. ... The teams conclude the season series Jan. 25 at Las Vegas. ... Gallant was back at Barclays Center for the first time since coaching Florida against the Islanders in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. New York won the series at home in two overtimes in Game 6. Gallant was fired by the Panthers last Nov. 27. ... Each team went 2 for 5 on the power play. ... Vegas gave up two power-play goals after going 10 for 10 on the penalty-kill the previous three games. ... Miller had an assist for the fifth straight game.

UP NEXT

Golden Knights: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

Islanders: At the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.

GAMEDAY: Isles, Golden Knights face each other for first time

The New York Islanders and the Vegas Golden Knights face off for the first time ever tonight at 7pm ET at Barclay's Center.

The Islanders, who are 2-1-0 in their last three games, will try to dethrone a Golden Knights team that is shattering records in their debut season.

"They work hard, they are well coached and they have done a good job," said Isles coach Doug Weight. "[GM] George [McPhee] has built a team of guys that have a lot to prove and guys that have skill, a solid D corps... They had a pretty good pool of players to pick from. They have a good team and are up in the top of the league for a reason - their work ethic and they're scoring some big goals."

Weight also added that Jaroslav Halak will start in net tonight, and that the Isles will use the same lineup from their most recent contest, a win over the Nashvile Predators over the weekend.

"[Vegas has] a good squad. A lot of teams maybe underestimate them and I don't think they will now," said Isles forward Jordan Eberle, who scored his first goal as an Islander in the win over the Preds. "They are off to a great start. We have to be ready and we have to be at our best and match the effort that we gave in Nashville."

ISLANDERS PROJECTED LINES

Forwards:

Lee-Tavares-Bailey

Nelson-Barzal-Everle

Ladd-Cizikas-Chimera

Kulemin-Beauvillier-Clutterbuck

Defense:

Leddy-Boychuk

De Haan-Seidenberg

Pelech-Pulock

Goaltender:

Halak

GOLDEN KNIGHTS PROJECTED LINES

Forwards:

Perron-Eakin-Neal

Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith

Haula-Lindberg-Tuch

Carrier-Edouard-Nosek

Defensemen:

Schmidt-Sbisa

McNabb-Engelland

Miller-Theodore

Goaltender:

Dansk

RAISING THE BAR(ZAL)

20 year-old rookie Mathew Barzal scored his first NHL point on Oct. 15 at LAK and followed it up with his first NHL goal on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Barzal became the fifth Islander to score his first NHL goal at MSG vs the Rangers. Barzal posted a three-game point streak (1G,2A) from Oct. 15-21 and has posted six points in his last six games (2G, 4A). Barzal recorded his first multi-point game on Oct. 26 at MIN.

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

The Islanders are 23-4-4 all-time vs. Western Conference opponents at Barclay Center. Starting on Oct. 21 vs SJS, the Islanders will play 9 of their next 10 games against Western Conference teams (five at home). This season the Islanders are 2-0-1 against the West at home.

WEIGHING-IN

In Saturday night's win over the Predators in Nashville, Head coach, Doug Weight became the fastest Islanders coach to 30 wins (51 games) beating Peter Laviolette (60 games) and Ted Nolan (61 games). Weight is 30-16-5 as the Islanders head coach.

THREES COMPANY

The Islanders are 6-1-0 when scoring at least three goals (including SO winners). They are 0-3-1 when they do not hit the three-goal mark.

BACK-TO-BACKS

The Islanders will play 16 sets of back-to-backs this season. The Islanders are 1-1-0 in front ends of back-tobacks and 1-1-0 in back ends. Their next back-to-back set will be Nov. 10-11 at Dallas and San Jose.

SHOOT-OUT HEROES

The Islanders improved to 72-57 all-time in the shootout with their SO win Thursday vs. the Rangers. Their 72 SO wins are second in the league only behind Pittsburgh (73). 

IRONMEN

Jason Chimera is the Islanders reigning ironman with 199 consecutive games played (106 w/ WSH, 93 with NYI). Jordan Eberle is second with 162 straight games (151 with EDM w/ NYI). Josh Bailey holds the longest ironman streak in an Isles uniform (160).

BENCH BOSSES

Doug Weight was named interim head coach of the New York Islanders on January 17, 2017, and became the 19th Head Coach in Islanders history. The Islanders went 24-12-4 in 40 games under Weight. On April 12 the ‘interim’ tag was removed. Weight promoted Greg Cronin to associate coach and named Kelly Buchberger, Luke Richardson, Scott Gomez and Fred Brathwaite to his coaching staff over the summer. Weight, Cronin, Buchberger and Richardson will coach from the benches in-game.   

THE OPPOSITION

With Friday’s victory over the Colorado Avalanche, the Golden Knights became the first club in the 100-year history of the NHL to win eight of its first nine games in its inaugural season. The win gave Vegas its fifth straight victory which matched the longest winning streak by a team at any point in its inaugural NHL season, joining the 1926-27 Rangers and 1979-80 Oilers.

The Golden Knights also became the first expansion team in NHL history to start with a 3-0-0 record, besting the Oakland Seals and Los Angeles Kings who both started the 1967-68 season with a 2-0-1 record.

Goaltender  Marc-Andre Fleury, defenseman  Clayton Stoner and goaltender Malcolm Subban  are on the injured reserve list.

Since being forced into action after injuries to Fleury and Subban, Dansk has played phenomenally and was named the NHL's second star for the week after going 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average, .968 save percentage and one shutout. He has a 3-0-0 record on the year and he leads the league with a 1.34 goals-against-average and .959 save percentage. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no other goaltender in the NHL's expansion era (since 1967) has won his first three games playing for a first-year team.