3 Takeaways: Isles Grind Out 2-1 Win Over Blackhawks

It wasn’t pretty, or necessarily easy, but the New York Islanders picked up two important points in a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.

Bo Horvat (PPG) and Simon Holmstrom (GWG) scored third period goals as the Isles rallied to beat the Blackhawks, pulling within one point of a playoff spot in the win.

“It was an important game for us,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “I'm not going to say it was a great win. I'm also going say it was a great game… That's the type of hockey we need to play if we want to give ourselves a chance to make the playoffs.”

In addition to an important win, the Islanders (81 points) got some help on the out of town scoreboard, as the Washington Capitals (82 points) fell 6-2 to the Buffalo Sabres. The Caps currently occupy the second wild card spot and have played one fewer game. 

It was also worth noting that the Isles won their first game on the back half of a back-to-back set this season, improving to 1-6-3.

“Anytime we can win back-to-back and especially on a back-to-back with two tough games, they played a good game tonight and we were faced with a tough challenge of a good goaltender tonight and to mentally grind through it, it definitely helps us,” Horvat said. “But we have a lot of work to do. We're chasing and we got to keep winning hockey games here in order to get in.”

ISLES RALLY IN THIRD PERIOD:

For 40 minutes, Tuesday’s game had all the makings of a frustrating one for the Islanders.

They found themselves trailing early to a Blackhawks team at the bottom of the standings, thanks to a Jason Dickinson tally at the 7:49 mark of the first period off a feed from wunderkind Connor Bedard.

Offensively, they were getting stymied by Petr Mrazek, with nothing to show for 24 shots through two periods, coming up empty against a team who had allowed the fourth-most goals-against-per-game this season.

Instead of throwing up their hands, or changing their game, the Islanders stuck with their game and eventually broke through 1:33 into the third period.

“I don't think anything changed in our game. It was just a matter of it going in for us,” Horvat said. “We stuck to our system and stuck to the same program that has been successful for us in the past and we got rewarded for it tonight.”

It started with a remixed power play, with Roy giving Casey Cizikas a rare look on the man advantage on a new-look unit with Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, JG Pageau and Noah Dobson. The move paid off, as Cizikas tied up a man on the wall allowing Barzal – who had just circled the zone – to fish out a loose puck and feed a wide open Horvat for a one-timer in close. The goal was Horvat’s 31^st of the season and second in two games off a feed from Barzal and gave the Isles some life.

While the Isles didn’t have the shot volume they had in the first two periods, they had the finishing touch in the third, with Holmstrom netting the game-winner at the 9:25 mark. What stood out to Roy after the game was how the Isles held firm at the end of the game, bouncing back after giving up the game-tying goal with 9.6 seconds to play the night before in Philadelphia.

“Obviously we were not happy about our third period against the Flyers,” Roy said. “They responded really well to it.”

HOLMSTROM NETS GAME-WINNER:

Simon Holmstrom returned to the lineup on Tuesday night after sitting three games as a healthy scratch. The 22-year-old acknowledged it hadn’t been fun watching from the press box, but after working hard in practice, he rewarded Roy for putting him back in the lineup.

Holmstrom netted the game-winner, driving the net and chipping a rebound past Mrazek at 9:25. It snapped a 15-game goal drought for the Swede, who hadn’t scored since Feb. 20.

“It’s no fun to sit out, so you want to be out there and help your team and we got a huge win,” Holmstrom said.

Holmstrom, who played on a line with Anders Lee and JG Pageau, took the place of Hudson Fasching and was determined to put the puck to the net, racking up four shots and eight total attempts. That’s the type of play Roy wants to see.

I want him to earn it. And that's what he did,” Roy said. “That's the hockey he's capable of playing and that's what he did.”

SOROKIN ENDS SKID:

Ilya Sorokin snapped a personal six-game losing streak on Tuesday night making 18 saves in his first victory since March 7.

While the shot total was low, the Blackhawks opted for quality over quantity, with 11 of Chicago’s 18 even-strength shots being credited as high-danger chances per Natural Stat Trick.

“He was great tonight. He made the saves when he needed to make the saves,” Horvat said. “Even when he wasn't getting the wins behind him, he's a phenomenal goaltender and you can't take that away from him. We hadn't been playing the best in front of them, so it wasn't entirely his fault. He stood on his head tonight.”

NEXT GAME: 

The Islanders head out on a one-game road trip, taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday in their last regular season game outside of the Tri-State Area this season.