Bischoff Agrees To Entry Level Contract

The New York Islanders announced today that defenseman Jake Bischoff has agreed to a two-year, entry-level contract.

Bischoff, 22, served as an alternate captain for the Minnesota Golden Gophers in each of the last two seasons and scored a career-high 32 points (five goals, 27 assists) in 38 games this season. He went on to win the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year award. Drafted by the Islanders in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Draft (185th overall), Bischoff led all Big Ten defensemen this season in scoring with 18 points during conference games.

Throughout his four years at Minnesota, Bischoff scored 68 points (17 goals, 51 assists) in 139 collegiate games.

A native of Grand Rapids, MI, Bischoff was named to the All-Big Ten first team this season and is a two-time Big Ten All-Academic Team member (2015, 2016).

Prior to his time at Minnesota, Bischoff played two seasons with the Omaha Lancers of the United States Hockey League and spent four years at Grand Rapids High School, where he recorded 98 points (27 goals, 71 assists) in 89 games.

- New York Islanders

Arvidsson, Saros lead Predators to 3-1 win over Islanders

By VIN A. CHERWOO
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) Two days after breaking through with their highest scoring burst of the season, the Nashville Predators needed a strong defensive effort to pull out another win and keep rolling.

Viktor Arvidsson scored early in the second period, Jusse Saros stopped 24 shots and the Predators held on to beat the New York Islanders 3-1 Monday night for their fourth straight victory and seventh in the last eight games.

"Our goaltending was great, our team as a whole was great defensively as far as limiting their chances," Nashville defenseman Ryan Ellis said. "Our forwards were back pressuring and doing everything they could to win the game. When you get that, it makes our D a lot more comfortable throughout the game."

Nashville was coming off a 7-2 win at home against the Sharks on Saturday night.

"Our defensive side of the game was great the last two games, and if we're going to be successful going forward it's got to be the same way," Ellis said.

Kevin Fiala and Ryan Johansen also scored to help Nashville remain in control of third place in the Central Division, one point ahead of St. Louis - which beat Arizona 4-1.

"We're obviously not in the playoffs yet, we haven't clinched anything," said Johansen, whose empty-netter with 21 seconds left was his 13th goal of the season and 100th of his career. "We're still scratching and clawing ... I like the way we're trending, though."

Josh Bailey scored and Thomas Greiss finished with 28 saves for the Islanders, who remained two points behind Boston for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. New York also fell one point behind Tampa Bay, which beat Chicago 5-4 in overtime.

The Islanders, who have seven games left, have lost six of their last nine overall (3-5-1) and are 0-4-1 in the last five at Barclays Center since earning a point in 11 straight (9-0-2) on home ice.

"Real frustrating one tonight for sure," New York captain John Tavares said. "We've given ourselves a good chance to make the playoffs, put ourselves in a position to be fighting here until the end. We're just disappointed we didn't play well enough, starting with myself, today. It's just not good enough."

Arvidsson made it 2-0 at 3:15 of the second as he deflected a centering pass from Filip Forsberg past Greiss for his 29th, tying him with Forsberg for the team lead. The goal was reviewed but stood after it was determined the puck went off Arvidsson's skate and then his stick before going in.

It was Arvidsson's sixth goal in eight games and Nashville's NHL-leading 95th in the second period this season.

The Islanders were booed midway through the period as they failed to get a good scoring chance on their second power play of the game. New York finished 0 for 2 on the man advantage, falling to 2 for 21 over their last eight games.

Bailey got the Islanders on the board with 2:40 left in the middle period as he deflected a shot by Nick Leddy from the left side down and past Saros. It was Bailey's 13th goal of the season and first in 16 games.

The Predators appeared to take the lead about 8 1/2 minutes into the game when Ellis beat Greiss with a shot that seemed to deflect off an Islanders defender. However, New York interim coach Doug Weight challenged for offside and the goal was waved off after a video review showed Fiala was indeed guilty of the infraction.

Fiala made up for it when he put Nashville ahead at 10:17 by firing a shot from the high slot past Greiss' blocker side for his ninth.

NOTES: Predators C Mike Fisher missed his third straight game due to a lower-body injury. ... D Roman Josi played in his 400th career game, all with Nashville. ... Johansen's goal was his 58th point, keeping him two ahead of Arvidsson for the team lead. ... The teams conclude their two-game season series April 4 at Nashville. ... The Islanders agreed to terms with F John Stevens on a two-year, entry-level contract. The 22-year-old had five goals and 23 assists this past season as a senior at Northeastern and totaled 26 goals and 80 assists in four seasons with the Huskies. ... The Islanders play five of their last seven games on the road, where they are 15-16-5.

UP NEXT

Predators: At Boston on Tuesday night.

Islanders: At Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Islanders recall Jaroslav Halak from Bridgeport

The New York Islanders recalled goaltender Jaroslav Halak from Bridgeport of the AHL on Thursday.

Halak went 17-7-3 with a 2.15 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage with the Sound Tigers after being assigned to Bridgeport on Dec. 31.

The former NHL all-star was a top goalie in the American League, with the third-best GAA and the fourth-best SV%. He also won a Sound Tigers record 12 straight games from Jan. 20 to Feb. 19.

Halak was 6-8-5 with the Islanders this season with a 3.23 GAA and a .904 SV% prior to his assignment. The 31-year-old set the Islanders single-season wins record in 2014-15, winning 38 games.

With back-to-back games against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins upcoming on Friday and Saturday, Halak is expected to see action this weekend.

Ladd gets go-ahead goal in third, Islanders beat Rangers 3-2

By VIN A. CHERWOO
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) After getting off to a slow start, the New York Islanders rallied with a strong third period to get a big win in their playoff push.

Andrew Ladd scored the tiebreaking goal with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining to lift the Islanders to a 3-2 victory over the crosstown-rival Rangers on Wednesday night.

Anders Lee had a goal and an assist, and Nikolay Kulemin also scored for the Islanders, who pulled two points behind Boston for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card spot. Anthony Beauvillier had two assists and Thomas Greiss stopped 34 shots.

"We might not have had our best night, we just stuck with it, then found a way," said Islanders captain John Tavares, who had an assist on Ladd's winner. "I think that's what matters most. I think going forward, we just know we have to be a lot better in some areas. We just keep believing. There's still 10 games to go, and you play 82 for a reason."

On the tiebreaking goal, the Islanders were on the power play when Tavares fired a shot from the left side that deflected to Lee at the left side of the net. Lee then sent a backhand pass in front to Ladd, who fired it past Raanta for his 20th with 7:22 to go.

Ladd, signed in the offseason, has rebounded nicely after a slow start that saw him total four goals and three assists in his first 32 games. He has 16 goals and five assists in 36 games since.

"It's always nice to get to that mark," Ladd said of getting No. 20, "Especially after the start that I had. But at this point, the good feeling is coming away with two points, and on to the next one."

For the Islanders, the next one is a visit to defending champion Pittsburgh on Friday night before hosting the Bruins the following night.

Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash scored, and Antti Raanta finished with 25 saves for the Rangers, who remained six points behind Columbus for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

"We played a strong game," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "We had some real good looks. Defensively, we didn't give up much. We got a little unlucky, I thought, in the third period there as far as bounces on our (penalty kill)."

The Islanders, who beat the Rangers for the third time in four games this season and seven of eight over the last two, won for just the second time in six games (1-3-1). The Islanders also improved to 17-9-4 since interim coach Doug Weight replaced the fired Jack Capuano.

The loss extended the Rangers' home losing streak to seven games (0-5-2) since beating Washington on Feb. 19."

"I don't understand why we can't seem to get it done on home ice," Rangers center Derek Stepan said. "We have to find the answer and get it done before the playoffs come around."

Trailing 2-1 after two periods, the Islanders tied it on a double-deflection at 5:01 of the third. With the Rangers' Kevin Hayes off for slashing, rookie Josh Ho-Sang sent a puck in front that deflected off Beauvillier's skate and then Kulemin's, with the latter getting credit for his 12th.

The Rangers got on the scoreboard first in the second period. With Tavares off for hooking, his second of three penalties in the game, Zuccarello put the Rangers up 1-0 at 2:46 as he took a centering pass from Mika Zibanejad and put it past Greiss for his 15th.

The Islanders tied it 54 seconds later as Beauvillier backhanded a shot from the right side off Raanta's pad that deflected to Lee on the left side, and Lee knocked it in for his 27th.

Nash put the Rangers back ahead less than three minutes later as he skated in on Greiss while fighting off a defender and lifted the puck up off the goalie's glove that bounced on the ice and over the line for his 20th at 6:36.

The Rangers outshot the Islanders 11-9 in a scoreless first period that saw both teams have chances.

NOTES: The Islanders scored multiple goals on the power play for the third time this season, the first time on the road. ... Tavares remained one goal from tying Bobby Nystrom (235) for eighth place on the Islanders' career goal-scoring list. ... Islanders F Ryan Strome left in the second period. The team announced during the second intermission that he would not return due to an upper-body injury. Weight said he didn't expect to have Strome available for the next two games. ... Nick Holden had an assist on Nash's second-period goal, giving Rangers defensemen 26 assists and 38 points in the last 20 games.

UP NEXT:

Islanders: At Pittsburgh on Friday night before returning home the following night to open a stretch of three of four at Barclays Center.

Rangers: At Los Angeles on Saturday night in the opener of a three-game California trip.

Tarasenko scores twice to lift Blues over Isles 4-3

By DAVID SOLOMON
Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) Vladimir Tarasenko knew he needed to step up with two of St. Louis' top centers, Paul Stastny and Jori Lehtera, out of the lineup.

With Alexander Steen centering his line, Tarasenko scored twice to lead the Blues to a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night.

"We used to play before a lot of times in the last five years so it's not a new line for us," Tarasenko said. "It sounds simple, but we just try to fight for each other, put each other in a good spot, that's why we're winning games."

Steen and Patrik Berglund also scored, and the Blues won their fourth straight game. Carter Hutton stopped 21 of 24 shots.

"In my eyes, that was a character win," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said. "We said that before the game, that it was going to be a character game. I was confident with the character in our locker room that guys would recognize that and we would respond."

New York's Thomas Greiss stopped 14 of 18 shots in the first two periods before being pulled in favor of Jean-Francois Berube to start the third with the Islanders trailing 4-1.

Brock Nelson, Anthony Beauvillier and Nick Leddy scored for the Islanders, who finished their nine-game trip 5-3-1.

"I think all we can do is keep chucking forward," Islanders captain John Tavares said. "We're still in a good spot. We know we're right there battling for that last wild card."

Berglund's 19th goal gave St. Louis a 4-1 lead late in the second period.

Beauvillier pulled New York within two when he scored his eighth of the season 2:11 into the third. Islanders interim coach Doug Weight pulled Berube for an extra attacker with 2:39 remaining as his team went on the power play, and Leddy scored his 11th of the season to get New York within one.

Tarasenko's second goal of the game and team-leading 32nd of the season gave him his sixth multigoal game of the season.

Tarasenko scored his first goal on the power play with Thomas Hickey in the penalty box for tripping.

"He's one of the best shooters in the league," Islanders left wing Anders Lee said. "He doesn't need much space to get a shot off, and obviously it was apparent tonight he didn't need it at all. He snapped a couple home. We play against great players like him all the time, but we obviously have got to play him a little tighter."

New York appeared to tie it on Andrew Ladd's power-play goal 11:31 into the first period, but the goal was overturned after Yeo challenged for Jason Chimera being offside.

"The way the game plays out, that could be a big momentum swing," Hutton said. "That's huge, especially with if that goal goes in, there's two minutes left on that second power play."

NOTES: New York is 15-7-3 since Weight took over as interim coach on Jan. 17. ... St. Louis is 8-2 in the second game of back-to-back games. ... St. Louis D Colton Parayko missed his first game of the season with an upper-body injury sustained in Friday night's game vs. Anaheim.

UP NEXT

Islanders: New York returns home Monday night to face Carolina.

Blues: St. Louis begins a five game trip Monday at Los Angeles.

Ladd scores in OT and Islanders top Canucks 4-3

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) Andrew Ladd scored at 1:33 of overtime and the New York Islanders defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 on Thursday night.

Calvin de Haan fed Ladd in the extra period for a tap-in winner after the Canucks had a couple of chances at the other end.

John Tavares, Anthony Beauvillier and Brock Nelson scored in regulation for New York. Thomas Greiss made 36 saves.

Josh Bailey added three assists for the Islanders, who moved a point ahead of Toronto for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference after briefly dropping out of a playoff position following the Maple Leafs' 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers earlier Thursday.

Troy Stecher, with a goal and an assist, Reid Boucher and Sven Baertschi had the goals for Vancouver. Ryan Miller made 24 saves.

New York improved to 15-6-3 since Doug Weight became interim head coach after Jack Capuano was fired Jan. 17. The Islanders are also 5-2-1 on their season-high nine-game road trip, which wraps up Saturday in St. Louis.

Down 3-2 late in the third, Stecher ripped a shot past Greiss for his third of the season with just 19.3 seconds left in regulation to tie it.

The Canucks turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage early in the second when Boucher scored his third after collecting his rebound and sending a shot past Greiss.

Baertschi then gave Vancouver its first lead just 1:56 later.

Tavares, the Islanders captain, threw a blind pass into the slot that Baertschi intercepted before quickly beating a surprised Greiss with a slick move to the backhand. The goal was Baertschi's 16th of the season and third in five games since returning from a concussion.

But the Islanders got even at 9:44 when Vancouver's Jason Megna lost the puck in the offensive zone and New York quickly turned the other way, with Beauvillier dekeing Miller on a breakaway for his seventh.

Nelson's goal came on a weird play with 23.8 seconds left in the second when the Islanders' center tipped a point shot that deflected off Stecher and bounced past Miller for his 15th of the season.

The play was eerily similar to the overtime goal scored by Montreal's Paul Byron in the Canadiens' 2-1 victory in Vancouver on Tuesday.

After Nelson gave his team a 3-2 edge late in the second, Miller kept the Canucks in it after stopping Tavares on a 2-on-1 midway through the third. The Vancouver goalie also blocked Tavares on the rebound and then another follow-up chance off the stick of Anders Lee.

Greiss made a diving stick save on Henrik Sedin with about six minutes left in regulation.

The Islanders led 1-0 after the first despite getting outshot 14-4 and thoroughly outplayed for long stretches.

Following a number of stellar stops from Greiss, New York broke through when Tavares took a cross-ice feed from Bailey and beat an out-of-position Miller for his 25th at 15:01.

The Canucks got off to a fast start. Greiss stopped Megna on a breakaway, Markus Granlund on a chance off the rush and Baertschi from the slot as Vancouver held a 9-2 shot edge just over eight minutes into the game.

NOTES: Greiss made his eighth straight start. ... With newly acquired Nikolay Goldobin out with the flu, the Canucks dressed defenseman Alex Biega as the 12th forward. ... Vancouver defenseman Nikita Tryamkin returned to the lineup after missing six games with the mumps. ... Tavares has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) over his past 21 games. ... Bo Horvat has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in his past 12 games.

UP NEXT:

Islanders: End nine-game road trip on Saturday against St. Louis.

Canucks: Host Cup champion Penguins on Saturday night.

Isles beat Oilers 4-1

EDMONTON, Alberta – Anders Lee scored a pair of goals and the New York Islanders earned a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

Joshua Ho-Sang, with his first career NHL goal, and Andrew Ladd also scored for the Islanders, who snapped a two-game losing skid.

Zack Kassian scored for the Oilers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.

The Islanders kicked off the scoring with 2:37 left in the first period as Ho-Sang scored on a power-play shot from the point that beat Oilers goalie Cam Talbot up high.

Flames beat Islanders 5-2

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) – Sean Monahan had a goal and an assist and Calgary beat New York for its seventh straight victory.

Brian Elliott made 33 saves for his sixth straight win. Elliott is 7-0-1 since his last regulation loss on Feb. 5 when he made 28 saves during a 4-3 loss in New York to the Rangers.

Michael Frolik, TJ Brodie, Micheal Ferland and Kris Versteeg also scored for the Flames.

John Tavares and Jason Chimera scored for the Islanders. They are 3-2-1 on a nine-game trip.

Thomas Greiss started in net for the Islanders and stopped 17 of 21 shots in the first period before being replaced by Jean-Francois Berube, who finished with 15 saves.

Blackhawks beat Isles 2-1 in SO

CHICAGO (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored with 1:14 left in regulation and then had the clinching goal in the shootout, helping the Chicago Blackhawks beat the New York Islanders 2-1 on Friday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

Jonathan Toews also scored in the tiebreaker as Chicago pulled within one point of idle Minnesota for the top spot in the Western Conference. Corey Crawford made 31 saves in his first start since Feb. 23.

After Toews beat Thomas Greiss with a wrist shot, Crawford turned away Joshua Ho-Sang. Patrick Kane was stopped by Greiss and Nikolay Kulemin shot it off the right post before Panarin finished off the victory for the Blackhawks.

Greiss made 30 stops for New York, and Brock Nelson scored his 14th goal in the second. The Islanders had won four of five, including a 5-4 victory at Dallas on Thursday night.

Isles beat Stars 5-4

DALLAS (AP) – Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists, and New York rallied with four straight goals to beat Dallas.

Strome scored the game’s first goal, then assisted on Andrew Ladd’s second-period goal and Dennis Seidenberg’s tiebreaker at 7:46 of the third.

The Islanders, in a tight race for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, have won four of five and are 3-1 on a nine-game road trip. They were 7-13-4 on the road when the trip began.

Nick Leddy and Nikolay Kulemin also scored in the third for New York.

Stars captain Jamie Benn scored on the power play in the first period and short-handed in the third. Radek Faksa and Jason Spezza had second-period goals that gave Dallas a 3-1 lead.

Thomas Greiss made 22 saves for New York, while Antti Niemi stopped 28 shots for Dallas.