Notebook: Eberle Hat Trick Leads Isles Past Wings 4-1

Propelled by Jordan Eberle's hat trick the New York Islanders closed out a season sweep (3-0-0) over the Detroit Red Wings with a 4-1 victory on Friday night at Nassau Coliseum. Leo Komarov also found the net for the Islanders, who got a 21-save performance from Semyon Varlamov.
After four-straight regulation losses, in which the Isles were outscored 11-2 and allowed the first goal in all four games, the Isles earned a morale-boost as they got back in the win column and returned to fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. The win capped off a special evening for the franchise as Islander legend John Tonelli had his No. 27 lifted into the rafters ahead of puck-drop.
BOXSCORE | TROTZ POSTGAME

"First of all, congrats to John," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "When you talk about all of those people who have got their number retired there's a common threat; those guys brought it every night. You talk about determination and character and all of that. He's one of the standard bearers for this organization. I thought we were real professionals about coming out and jumping on [Detroit] and playing with that same determination that [Tonelli] talked about."

The Isles soundly dominated the first period as they took a 1-0 lead and held a 13-2 shot on goal advantage. Eberle put the Isles on the board as he shielded Detroit netminder Jonathan Bernier from Ryan Pulock's rocket of a point shot. The blast from distance grazed Eberle, who successfully impeded Bernier's vision. Eberle's first of the night was orchestrated by a strong possession by the Isles top line as they entered Detroit's zone. Mathew Barzal drew pressure to himself from Detroit before playing Anders Lee down low. The Isles captain redistributed the puck out to Pulock, who took advantage of his wide-open shooting lane.
Down by a goal, Detroit returned after the first intermission with intensity and didn't relent. The newest member of the Isles, defenseman Andy Greene, kept the Red Wings off the board as he denied a cross-crease feed and Varlamov came up big to deny the second attempt.
"In the first 10 minutes we got a huge save from Greene slash [Varlamov]," Trotz said. "To me, that was a game changer right there. The goals haven't been coming easing. The second half of the period we stayed on them."
Dylan Larkin nearly had a breakaway, but Devon Toews successfully broke up the opportunity as he checked back and forced his stick across Larkin. The Red Wings center was forced to try and spin off Toews and attempt a backhanded shot past Varlamov.

The Isles doubled their lead 2-0 with three minutes left in the period, as Eberle found the back of the net for the second time during the evening. The goal embodied the Isles mantra of creating defense from offense. After breaking the puck out, the Isles quickly capitalized on the fly. Barzal sent a cross-ice pass to Eberle on the left faceoff circle. Eberle took the puck on his stick and rifled a wrist shot near side of Bernier.
With a 2-0 lead as the third period ensued, the Isles put forth more of a conservative, defensive effort.
"In third period I thought we were handling it pretty good," Trotz said. "They didn't have many chances. We were managing the puck well."
The Isles took their first penalty of the game as Andrew Ladd was called for tripping at 15:56. The desperate Red Wings pulled Bernier in exchange for an extra skater. Detroit seemingly got their first of the game on the power play, but upon review the goal was ruled off as the official had blown his whistle during a scuffle near the net front prior to Tyler Bertuzzi burying the loose rebound.
Moments after Detroit was denied their first attempt on the power play, the Red Wings converted as Anthony Mantha's attempted pass to the slot was deflected off Isles defenseman Greene and Mayfield and past Varlamov.

Detroit snapped the Isles perfect penalty kill, which had killed 13-straight penalties up until the third period, when the Red Wings scored their sole goal of evening and robbed Varlamov of the shutout.
The Isles restored their two-goal lead as Eberle secured his first hat trick as an Islander (third career) and scored the Isles first power play goal in six games. Coming off of Detroit's center-ice draw, Larkin tripped Komarov and sent the Isles on their fourth power play of the evening. Eberle buried a back door rebound from Greene's initial slap shot from the point.
Komarov, who left during the second period after taking a puck to the skate in the neutral zone, but returned, scored his fourth goal of the season with seven seconds left in the game on Detroit's empty net to seal the Isles 4-1 victory.

Video: DET@NYI: Komarov seals victory with empty-net goal

EBERLE COMPLETES FIRST HAT TRICK AS AN ISLANDER:

Throughout the Isles most recent road trip, the goals weren't coming easy, but against the Red Wings Eberle potted his first hat trick as a New York Islander.
"It's funny how it works," Eberle explained. "You create a lot on the road and nothing's going in. You get one off the shin pad, a couple bounces go right to you. Sometimes the game works like that. The only thing you can try to do is go to the areas where you know you can score from and try and get open to the tough areas. Eventually, the tide has to turn."
Eberle now has 13 goals on the season.

VARLAMOV GETS REWARDED WITH RESULT:

Varlamov got back in the win column on Friday after losing three straight starts. The record betrayed how good Varlamov had played in his three starts, which included a 42-save, 1-0 loss to Vegas last Saturday. On Friday, Varlamov got rewarded for his consistency as he backstopped the Isles to a victory. The win improved his record to 18-12-4.
"He's been playing some great hockey and seen a lot of things," Lee said. "We finally gave him some support tonight."

LADD AND KOIVULA DRAW INTO THE LINEUP:

Andrew Ladd and Otto Koivula were recalled from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Friday morning as Derick Brassard is day-to-day with an upper-body injury sustained against Colorado on Wednesday evening and Kieffer Bellows was loaned to Bridgeport.
Ladd drew into the left-wing spot of the Isles third line with Josh Bailey at center and Michael Dal Colle on the right and logged 11:25 including 1:02 shorthanded and threw six hits.
Koivula skated between Matt Martin and Tom Kuhnhackl and played 7:53 and had one shot on goal.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders return to action on Sunday night when they take on the San Jose Sharks at Nassau Coliseum. Puck drop is at 5 p.m.