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 Star center John Tavares had a goal and an assist for the Islanders
on Tuesday as they won for the sixth time in their past eight games,
beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1 and improving to 2-0-0 on the
seven-game road swing.
Goaltender Jaroslav Halak had 30 saves while center Frans Nielson
scored twice and left winger Matt Martin got the Islanders on the
scoreboard early. New York (32-19-7) swept its season series with
Minnesota.
The Wild, who had won their first four games under interim head
coach John Torchetti, fell behind early and couldn't catch up.
Minnesota (27-23-10) got a goal from left winger Chris Porter and 27
saves from goalie Devan Dubnyk, but remains winless at Xcel Energy
Center in 2016. The Islanders, who have the NHL's top-rated penalty
kill, blanked the Wild on five power plays.
"We came out with real good legs early and were aggressive and got
rewarded," Tavares said. "It's always good feeling to start on the
road and get that first goal from some good hard work. Special teams
were a big part of the game today and (Halak) made some big saves.
We got some big goals at big times."
The Islanders led 2-1 after 40 minutes and got an insurance goal
early in the third on a power play. Tavares' team-leading 23rd goal
of the season came on a tap-in at the top of the crease with Dubnyk
tied up by traffic. Torchetti challenged the play, claiming
Islanders left winger Anders Lee was interfering with Dubnyk when
the goal was scored, but after a review the call on the ice stood.
With Minnesota on a late power play and Dubnyk on the bench, Nielson
fired a puck the length of the ice for a short-handed empty-net
goal.
While Sunday's outdoor win over Chicago in the Stadium Series game
counts as a home win, the Wild have not gotten a home victory
indoors since Dec. 28, going 0-6-3 at the X since.
"You always want to be a good home team and we haven't done that as
of late," Wild center Charlie Coyle said, with his team heading to
the East Coast for a pair of games later in the week. "Right now,
we've got to focus on the road, heading down there and getting those
games. But we've got to get back to playing our game and our style
of hockey here, and take care of business in this building."
The Islanders needed just 96 seconds to take the lead, as a carom
off the end boards gave Martin a loose puck at the left side of the
net. He popped a quick shot behind Dubnyk for an early 1-0
advantage.
"It was good for us to get that one early to give us a little bit of
confidence on this road trip against a really good team and try to
take some of the crowd noise out and get some of the momentum," said
Islanders coach Jack Capuano. "We were resilient tonight and played
a good game all the way around. It was one of our best games of the
season."
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After killing a pair of Minnesota power plays, the Islanders doubled
their lead on their first power play of the game. Stationed near the
boards on the edge of the right circle, Tavares slid a perfect pass
to the low slot, where Nielsen needed only to re-direct the puck to
the lower left corner of the net.
"We were trying to be too fine with it and we weren't getting inside
like we want," said Torchetti, critiquing his team's power play. "A
couple of times we didn't have the net-front presence. I think we
had two chances that I liked, but you've got to get more than that
when you get five opportunities."
Frustrated by Halak for much of the second, the Wild finally broke
through in the final minute of the period. Defenseman Marco
Scandella celebrated his 26th birthday with an assist, throwing a
shot toward the net from the blue line. The puck struck traffic in
front of Halak, but ricocheted to the left of the crease, where
Porter was all alone and needed only to tap the puck into a mostly
empty net. It was just the fourth goal of the season for Porter, who
had been a healthy scratch in nine of Minnesota's previous 10 games.
NOTES: Islanders rookie D Ryan Pulock was in the building, but not
on the ice, for New York on Tuesday. Recalled by the Isles from
their Bridgeport AHL team on Monday, Pulock is expected to make his
NHL debut soon. He was New York's first-round pick, 15th overall, in
the 2013 draft. ... Minnesota was without LW Jason Zucker, who
suffered an upper-body injury in the Wild's 6-1 win over Chicago on
Sunday. Zucker was hit in the head by Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival
during the second period of their Stadium Series game. Rozsival was
ejected from the game but received no further discipline from the
NHL. ... The Islanders visit the Calgary Flames on Thursday night,
and have games in Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and vs. the Rangers
in Manhattan before their next home game. ... Minnesota embarks on a
two-game East Coast swing next, facing the Flyers in Philadelphia on
Thursday.
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