Islanders 5, Jets 2: Frans Nielsen scored a power-play goal to snap a tie with 28 seconds left in the second period as host New York pulled even with idle New Jersey for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
Anders Lee scored in his NHL debut, John Tavares recorded his team-leading 23rd goal and Colin McDonald and Matt Moulson also tallied. Captain Mark Streit and Brad Boyes notched a pair of assists apiece and Kevin Poulin turned aside 23 shots as the Islanders skated to their fifth win in six outings. New York is tied with the Devils (39 points), although the latter has a game in hand.
Defenseman Paul Postma tallied twice to triple his career scoring output and Ondrej Pavelec finished with 34 saves for the Jets, who have dropped a season-high four in a row and six of their last eight games. Winnipeg saw its lead in the Southeast Division drop to two points after Washington posted a 5-3 victory over Carolina.
New York produced on its lone power-play opportunity late in the second period. Streit wired a shot from the point that was denied, but Nielsen quickly blasted the puck into the open net to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. Moulson scored with two minutes left before setting up Tavares' empty-net goal to seal the win.
Postma forged a 1-1 tie with 1:54 remaining in the first period after cleaning up a rebound of Eric Tangradi's sharp-angle shot. Postma gave Winnipeg the lead at 6:02 of the second after deflecting Chris Thorburn's goal-mouth feed past Poulin. McDonald returned the favor by scoring on the doorstep nearly four minutes later to level the contest at 2-2.
GAME NOTEBOOK: New York improved to 4-0-1 in its last five meetings with Winnipeg. ... Lee, who signed an entry-level contract on Monday, wristed a shot from the top of the circle past a screened Pavelec with 3:47 remaining in the first period. ... Jets RW Nik Antropov exited with a lower-body injury.
Winnipeg | NY Islanders | |
Paul Postma 2 | Points | Matt Moulson 2 |
Paul Postma 2 | Goals | Matt Moulson 1 |
Eric Tangradi 2 | Assists | Brad Boyes 2 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Frans Nielsen 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Ondrej Pavelec .895 | Save Percentage | Kevin Poulin .920 |
Ondrej Pavelec 34 | Saves | Kevin Poulin 23 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Winnipeg | 25 | 2 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 4 | 22 |
NY Islanders | 39 | 5 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 4 | 26 |