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 Nelson scored with 6:08 left, giving New York a wild 4-3 win over
the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday night.
Right winger Michael Grabner's shot bounced over Nashville
defenseman Seth Jones' stick after goalie Pekka Rinne made the
initial save. Nelson capitalized with his 18th goal of the season.
"Nice job by Grabs kind of driving the line and getting a shot off
the far pad," Nelson said. "It snuck through Jones, and I was able
to just kind of get a quick shot off and beat him in the back of the
net."
The Islanders (42-21-3) lost four of their previous six games.
Nashville scored twice in a 33-second span midway through the third
period to tie the game at 3.
 "Obviously, that's really not what we wanted to happen, but it's
part of the game, and I think all you can do is worry about your
next shift," Islanders center John Tavares said. "When you get
contributions from a lot of different areas, especially a young guy
like Brock that's played so well for us, it's big to have those and
have guys make plays in big moments of the game." Nelson's winning goal typified the way things are going for the
Predators lately.
"We catch a tough bounce on the rebound that jumps over our
defenseman's stick," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "Tough
bounce."
Defenseman Ryan Ellis' one-timer from inside the blue line bounced
off center Mike Ribeiro's upper body to cut New York's lead to 3-2
with 9:44 left.
Center Craig Smith's top-shelf wrist shot tied the game at 3 with
9:13 left.
Nashville (41-18-7) dropped its fifth straight, extending its
longest losing streak of the season.
The Predators, who boasted the NHL's best record until recently,
hadn't sustained two consecutive regulation losses until the current
skid.
"It's hard to win when you're giving up four goals a game,
especially now," Ribeiro said. "You need to give up one or two goals
a game. So I think we need to tie it up a little bit defensively and
get those goals a little bit down."
Tavares skated from behind the back of the net to the right side of
the crease, where he flipped a wrist shot by Rinne to give the
Islanders a 1-0 lead at the 11:24 mark of the first period.
Tavares' 31st goal marked the 10th straight game the Predators
allowed the first goal.
Nashville outshot New York 10-3 during the first 11 minutes but
couldn't get anything past goalie Jaroslav Halak.
The Islanders increased their lead to 2-0 at 18:30 of the opening
period on the power play. Center Anders Lee's slap shot from the
point beat Rinne to the blocker side. Tavares dropped a pass to Lee,
who converted it into his 22nd goal of the season while center Paul
Gaustad was in the penalty box for crosschecking.
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New York scored on two of its first five shots.
Nashville cut New York's lead in half when center Colin Wilson
swatted a puck by Halak's stick side during a scramble in front of
the net with 1.2 seconds left in the first period.
Wilson reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his third NHL
season.
Defenseman Nick Leddy fired a wrist shot from the bottom of the
faceoff circle to beat Rinne to the stick side, increasing the
Islanders' lead to 3-1 at 8:39 of the third period.
"After the first period, we played some of the best hockey we've
played all year," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "They came at
us hard, and we sustained the pressure. It probably shouldn't have
been a 2-0 game, but we were resilient and played with good
structure the last couple of (periods)."
The Islanders took a two-point lead over the idle New York Rangers
for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
Ellis, who missed 24 of the previous 25 games with a lower-body
injury, returned to the lineup for the first time since a Feb. 26
loss to the Minnesota Wild.
The Predators, who have never won the division in their 16-year
history, hold a four-point lead over the second-place St. Louis
Blues in the Central.
NOTES: Only 12,107 fans made it to the game as ice and snow made
road conditions hazardous in Middle Tennessee. Free popcorn was
offered to fans who managed to get to the game. ... This was the
Predators' 21st game in 36 days, the NHL's busiest stretch during
that span. ... Nashville plays 12 of its last 16 games against
Western Conference opponents. ... Islanders F Matt Martin did not
play after being suspended Wednesday for kneeing Dallas D Trevor
Daley in an overtime loss Tuesday. ... Three New York forwards are
out with injuries: C Tyler Kennedy (upper body), C Mikhail Grabovski
(concussion) and RW Kyle Okposo (eye).
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