Isles call up Kieffer Bellows to boost scoring

For those who haven’t seen Kieffer Bellows play hockey, here’s the scouting report — in his own words:

“I’d say I’m a power forward. I’m physical. I like to shoot the puck. I get in the dirty areas. And I just have a knack for finding the net.”

Just what the Islanders need. They’re ranked 22nd in the NHL in goals, and after scoring 15 of them in his last 26 games for AHL Bridgeport, Bellows was called up Monday for the first time.

The 2016 first-round pick led the Sound Tigers in goals (16) and points (24) in his 45 games. He immediately practiced for the Islanders in East Meadow as the third-line left wing.

“He deserves the opportunity to come up with his consistency, because he’s one of our ‘A’ prospects,” president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “We know he can score goals.”

With 32 games left, the Islanders head into Tuesday night’s game against Dallas at Barclays Center just 2-3-3 in their last eight. They hold the Eastern Conference’s second wild card — one point behind the Flyers and one point ahead of the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs — in an airtight race for a playoff spot.

The trade deadline is Feb. 24.  “We’re looking to see where we might go,” coach Barry Trotz said. “We’re getting closer to the deadline. We’re looking for a goal here, a goal there. So we brought [Bellows] in. Take a look at him.”

Bellows will look to follow his dad, Brian, in the NHL goal-scoring business. The elder Bellows scored 485 of them across 17 seasons. His son scored 50 for the U.S. Under-18 Team in 2015-16 and 41 for Portland in the Western Hockey League in 2017-18. Now he’s in the NHL at 21.

“It’s such an honor and privilege to be here,” Bellows said.

The 6-1, 195-pound lefthanded shooter, who was in his second AHL season, had one goal and two assists after his first 19 games. He was scratched for the next two, had a talk with Bridgeport coach Brent Thompson about how to get better, and then took off.

“I was shooting the puck, but I felt I need to be more aggressive with my skating and just my whole mindset out there,” Bellows said. “I needed to be more assertive. Watching those two games from the stands really kind of made me sit back, kind of really focus on what I needed to do to improve my game and what I needed to do to help the team out . . .

“And I just went out there and just started to be more assertive, started carrying the puck more and just shooting more.”

Like Bellows, Anders Lee was born in Edina, Minnesota. The captain knows the kid’s potential.

“I skate with him in the summer; we have the same skating and shooting skills coach,” Lee said. “You’ve seen before how well he can shoot the puck. He’s a goal-scorer. He makes it look easy at times . . . Hopefully he can come up and make a big impact with us.”