Sorokin gets 3rd shutout, Islanders blank Jets 2-0
Nov 6, 2021, 7:41 AM | Updated: 9:48 pm
Winnipeg Jets' Dylan DeMelo (2) is checked by New York Islanders' Matt Martin (17) during the first period of NHL hockey game action in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. (Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
(Fred Greenslade/The Canadian Press via AP)
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Anders Lee and Brock Nelson scored, Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves and the New York Islanders ended the Winnipeg Jets’ undefeated string at home with a 2-0 victory Saturday night.
Sorokin, playing his ninth consecutive game to start the season, stopped 24 shots for his third shutout.
“He’s so steady back there,” said Lee, the Islanders’ captain. “You can see it in his eyes, how calm he is back there, how quick he is.”
Backup goalie Eric Comrie stopped 29 shots for the Jets, falling to 3-1.
The Islanders (5-2-2) opened the scoring early when Josh Bailey found Lee all alone in front. His wrist shot beat Comrie high to the glove side at 3:12 of the first period.
New York narrowly missed doubling its lead just a couple of minutes later when Mathew Barzal was by himself in virtually the same spot, but Comrie thwarted him with his right pad.
Nelson made it 2-0 just 47 seconds into the third after taking a nifty tip pass from Kyle Palmieri at the Jets blueline. Nelson skated in to the top of the right circle and ripped a wrist shot past Comrie on his blocker side.
Nelson scored a career-high four goals Thursday night in a 6-2 victory at Montreal.
The Jets (6-3-2) pulled Comrie with a little less than two minutes to go but were unable to beat Sorokin. Winnipeg managed no shots on net in the last four minutes.
“We know that our goaltenders are very strong and very capable,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “You look at certain stats, you can tell your team is playing as a team. We had 19 blocked shots. Winnipeg puts a lot of pressure on your net. We had 26 hits.
“I like the way we played; we had four lines going. We had a little rough patch in the second. (Mark) Scheifele missed a real good look. You need a little luck there.”
It was a scrappy game, with a fight in the second period between Jets winger Adam Lowry and Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield. There were a number of other near-fights, and countless face-washes in scrums.
A couple of streaks for the Jets came to an end. They had been riding an eight-game point streak (6-0-2) since opening the season with a pair of regulation losses, and they had been undefeated at home (4-0-0).
The Islanders outshot the Jets 31-24.
“Our two best chances don’t go for us and then we get an awful lot blocked, but that’s a big part of what they do and how they play,” Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. “We spent enough time in their end, didn’t manufacture enough second chances. We had possession but we didn’t get enough chaos caused. But they do that very well. They’re built for that.”
The Jets lost Scheifele and fellow forward Paul Stastny in the third period. Scheifele appeared to injure his knee after getting tangled up with Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech. Stastny was hit in front of the New York net by one of his own defensemen.
Winnipeg had defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 less than 24 hours earlier.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Play at Minnesota on Sunday night, the 10th game of a 13-game road trip to start the season while construction on their new home arena is completed. Semyon Varlamov is expected to make his first start of the season in net.
Jets: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, the fourth game of a seven-game homestand — their longest of the season.
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