Andreas Athanasiou scored a pair of goals as the host Detroit Red Wings snapped a four-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Athanasiou increased his season goal total to 26. Danny DeKeyser assisted on both goals, while goaltender Jonathan Bernier turned aside 41 shots.
Anders Lee scored the only goal for the Islanders, who had won their previous two games. Thomas Greiss made 20 saves for New York.
Detroit avenged a pair of one-goal losses to the Islanders earlier in the season.
Both teams came up empty on the power play, as the Islanders went 0-for-2 while the Red Wings were 0-for-3. The Islanders outhit the Wings 37-17 but Detroit won the faceoff battle, 27-20.
Mathew Barzal had eight shot attempts for the Islanders. Dylan Larkin returned after a five-game absence for Detroit. Larkin, the team's leader in points, had two shots on goal.
Athanasiou scored his first goal of the afternoon 2:59 into the game. He skated in along the right boards and fired a shot that deflected off a defenseman's leg and got past Greiss. DeKeyser had the only assist on that goal.
Lee tied the score at 10:18 of the first period with his 26th goal. He beat Bernier through the five-hole on a shot from the slot. Brock Nelson and Devon Toews collected the assists.
Athanasiou scored the lone goal of the second period, his 26th, to give Detroit a 2-1 advantage. DeKeyser faked a shot from the slot and passed it to Athanasiou, who was parked near the post. Greiss couldn't recover in time to stop Athanasiou's shot. Tyler Bertuzzi also assisted on the play at 9:57 of the period.
Bernier made two difficult stops against Valtteri Filppula in a matter of seconds during the third period to keep the Wings in front. Ryan Pulock hit the goalpost late in the period.
The Islanders' chances of tying the score were stymied when Cal Clutterbuck was called for high sticking Athanasiou with 1:31 remaining.
--Field Level Media
NY Islanders | Detroit | |
Anders Lee 1 | Points | Andreas Athanasiou 2 |
Anders Lee 1 | Goals | Andreas Athanasiou 2 |
Brock Nelson 1 | Assists | Danny DeKeyser 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Thomas Greiss .909 | Save Percentage | Jonathan Bernier .976 |
Thomas Greiss 20 | Saves | Jonathan Bernier 41 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
NY Islanders | 42 | 1 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 6 | 20 |
Detroit | 22 | 2 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 27 |