Islanders rally for four goals in third to defeat Red Wings
Anders Lee of the Islanders celebrates his first goal of the third period against the Red Wings with his teammates at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Islanders have played more games than any other team in the NHL, meaning they are very vulnerable to being caught in this seven-team battle for the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots. They can’t do anything about the schedule. All they can do is keep playing strong defense, keep dominating in the third period.
Keep winning.
“We’ve put ourselves in a spot where we’ve got to make a push,” Anders Lee said after scoring twice in the Islanders’ 4-1 win over the Red Wings on Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena.
“Maybe not the cushion that we would have liked to have, but it is what it is. It’s time to go now and I think we’re doing a good job of showing that and getting back to some of the best hockey we can play.”
The Islanders (32-25-8), now on a 5-2-1 spurt, scored all of their goals in the third period, including two within 2 minutes, 28 seconds, in Pierre Engvall’s debut with the team. They have outscored their opponents 13-0 in the third period in their last eight games, with final-frame goals in seven of those matches.
“We need wins,” coach Lane Lambert said. “That’s just the bottom line. Doing it while going into the third period while being down was even bigger. I thought our guys showed tremendous resolve and urgency going into the third period understanding the situation at hand.”
The Islanders moved seven points ahead of the Red Wings, who have played three fewer games. Their next two games — against the visiting Sabres on Tuesday night and on the road against the Penguins on Thursday night — also are against teams in the wild-card battle.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 22 shots and Magnus Hellberg made 32 saves — including 16 in the first period — for the Red Wings (28-25-9), who are in an 0-4-1 skid but were 19-0-2 when leading after two periods before Saturday.
“It was a great third period,” said Engvall, 26, who was acquired from the Maple Leafs on Tuesday for a third-round pick in 2024 on Tuesday and skated on Bo Horvat’s top line with Lee. “We came out pretty good in the first period and got a lot of shots on net. It was nice to see it go in the third period.”
The Islanders have allowed only eight goals in their last six games.
“That’s a big part of our game is our defensive structure in the neutral zone and in the defensive zone,” Zach Parise said.
Dylan Larkin opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 18:59 of the second period.
The Islanders tied it at 1-1 at 2:11 of the third period as Parise got a good look at an open net from the left on the rebound of Kyle Palmieri’s initial shot. Defenseman Sebastian Aho started the sequence with a slick skating move over the blue line.
“I thought our first 40 [minutes] was really solid,” said Lee, who made it 2-1 at 4:39 as he deflected Hudson Fasching’s shot after Casey Cizikas beat Larkin on an offensive zone faceoff. “We had plenty of good looks, held them well, had some good [penalty] kills. We just didn’t get them to go. Stick with it, you’re going to get your opportunities. We knew that. But Zach kind of getting us going a little bit alleviated some of that.”
Palmieri’s power-play goal as he tipped defenseman Noah Dobson’s shot from the slot made it 3-1 at 15:41 and Lee’s second goal capped the scoring at 17:22.
“I think we’re doing a lot of good things,” Lambert said. “I like the thought process in how we’re playing.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
