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 Centers Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey and defenseman Marek Zidlicky
all scored in the second period on Monday afternoon and goalie
Thomas Greiss won his career-high fifth straight start as the
Islanders remained red-hot at home with a 4-1 win over the Detroit
Red Wings at Barclays Center.
The win was only the Islanders' second in the last two months
against one of the nine other Eastern Conference teams either
currently in playoff position or within four points of the last wild
card. New York is just 6-9-3 overall this season against those
teams, including the 10th-place Carolina Hurricanes, who routed the
Islanders 6-3 on Saturday night.
"Especially after the game we played in Carolina, we wanted to come
back, respond well," said Nelson, whose goal accounted for his 100th
career point. "We didn't play up to the standards that we expect
here. Today we came out, did a really good job."
With the win, the Islanders (30-19-6) vaulted past the New Jersey
Devils into third place in the Metropolitan Division. New York is
two points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who occupy the second
and final wild-card spot.
"Just in general we needed a win," Islanders head coach Jack Capuano
said. "I mean, what are we - 10, 11 games over .500? And we're still
battling every night. It's a battle in this division to try to make
a playoff push."
The Islanders might go into battle more frequently with Greiss, who
tied a career high Monday by starting his 20th game of the season.
He recorded 28 saves in improving his save percentage over his last
six games (including a relief appearance Saturday) to 92.8 percent.
Starter Jaroslav Halak is 1-4-0 and has stopped 85 percent of the
shots he's faced over his last five starts, a stretch in which he's
been pulled mid-game twice.
"When you've got a goalie and he's playing well, you want to play
him, there's no doubt about it," Capuano said.
Both Greiss and Capuano noted the Islanders have provided Greiss
with far more offensive support lately. The Islanders have scored 28
goals in Greiss' last five starts, dating back to Jan. 3, compared
to just 11 in Halak's last five starts, dating back to Jan. 25.
"That's just one of those things - some pitchers get run support,
some don't, it happens at different times," Capuano said.
"Fortunately for Thomas, we're scoring. And unfortunately for Jaro,
he plays well for us (but) we just couldn't get anything done for
him."
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The Islanders, who lost their first two meetings of the season to
the Red Wings by a combined score of 9-3, scored three times in a
span of less than eight minutes in the second on Monday. It was the
fifth time in the last four home games - three of which have been
started by Greiss - that New York has scored at least three goals in
a period.
"The team has been playing pretty well, too," Greiss said with a
grin. "To get eight goals (in an 8-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on
Feb. 7) and five goals (in a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets
on Jan. 12) helps a lot too to win games."
Center Pavel Datsyuk scored just before the midway point of the
third period for the Red Wings (29-19-9), who lost in regulation for
the first time in six games. But center John Tavares' no-look,
backward pass between two defenders set up an insurance goal by
center Ryan Strome with 8:46 remaining.
"I thought our approach was good, I thought early in the game we
were playing a good road game," Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill
said. "They gained momentum when they scored."
Goalie Jimmy Howard made 28 saves in losing his eighth straight
start dating back to Dec. 8.
"I thought Jimmy played good, Jimmy's just got to keep focused on
playing good hockey," Blashill said. "He can't score more goals for
us."
NOTES: The Islanders have played at home on President's Day in each
of the last nine seasons in which the NHL has been active on the
holiday and in the last 10 President's Days overall. The Red Wings
have played on President's Day just four times in that span. ... The
Islanders scratched RW Steve Bernier, G Jean-Francouis Berube and D
Brian Strait. ... Islanders G Thomas Greiss also made 20 starts for
the then-Phoenix Coyotes during the 2013-14 season. ... The Red
Wings scratched D Jonathan Ericsson (lower body), D Jakub Kindl and
LW Teemu Pulkkinen. ... Red Wings C Pavel Datsyuk was named the
NHL's first star of the week after scoring five goals in four games
and picking up the 900th point of his career in Sunday's 6-5 win
over the Boston Bruins.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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