Islanders score 4 in 3rd, defeat slumping Red Wings

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Anders Lee scored two goals in the third period for the New York Islanders, who rallied to defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at UBS Arena on Saturday.

Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for New York (32-25-8), which scored all four of its goals in the third period. Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.
"We knew it was coming," said Lee, the Islanders captain. "We just weren't able to bury some of our chances the first 40 minutes. If we [continued] to play the way we were, we knew we'd at least get our looks. So we just stayed on top of it and didn't falter from our game plan and the way we were playing."

The Islanders hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have three games in hand.
"We're going to be playing a lot of these type of tight games," forward Zach Parise said.
Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit (28-25-9), which has lost five straight (0-4-1) and has been outscored 24-8 during that stretch. Magnus Hellberg made 32 saves.
"Whether the playoffs [are] in reach or not, every chance you get to play, you want to play your best hockey," Hellberg said. "That's what I'm going to try to keep doing every game."
The Red Wings trail the Penguins, who have one game in hand, by six points for the second wild card.
"I think this is probably crazy to say, but we're still hanging around," Larkin said. "We're still right there. We have to win hockey games."
Parise tied it 1-1 at 2:11 into the third period. Palmieri's shot from the top of the right circle deflected off Sebastian Aho's stick right to Parise, who snapped a shot past Hellberg.
"I heard [Noah Dobson] yelling at me on the way back to skate it and kind of saw they were going to change, and their middle guy was just standing still, so I should beat him most times," Aho said. "Pumped it up to [Palmieri] and he shot it, good rebound and [Parise] buried it."
Lee gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 4:39, tipping Hudson Fasching's shot.

Palmieri scored a power-play goal at 15:41 to extend the lead to 3-1, and Lee beat Hellberg short side from the left circle at 17:21 for the 4-1 final.
"They got two quick ones there at the start of the third, and obviously got the third one on the power play, and I think that killed the game," Hellberg said.
Larkin gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 18:59 of the second period.
"We've scored one goal in six periods here (also lost 2-0 at UBS Arena on Jan. 27)," Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. "This is a bad matchup for us. We have to go in the hard [areas of the ice]. You [have] to get on a roll and fight through a team that's going to defend their net. We [have] to be harder on the goalie so it's uncomfortable. We don't have many of that type of player, but some of our players who are not that are going to have to start."

Forward Pierre Engvall made his Islanders debut after he was acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. He had two shots on goal in 17:26 of ice time.
"Just being a part of it for the first time, I was really excited," Engvall said. "I [could] feel it when [I woke] up this morning. [I was] extra pumped to get going."
NOTES:Lee has scored 236 goals with the Islanders, passing Bobby Nystrom for ninth in their history. … New York rallied to win after trailing in the third period for the eighth time this season.