Lankinen makes 48 saves for Predators in win against Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Kevin Lankinen made an NHL career-high 48 saves for the Nashville Predators in their third straight win, 4-1 against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Friday.

It was Lankinen's first start since Nov. 23 and first victory since Nov. 3, when he made 29 saves in a 4-1 win against the Calgary Flames.
"Kevin was great," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "He was very strong down the stretch. It's great to see him get rewarded."
Matt Duchene had a goal and two assists, and Filip Forsberg and Roman Josi each had a goal and an assist for the Predators (12-9-2), who won 4-3 in overtime at the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. They are 7-1-1 in their past nine games.
"We were stingy," Duchene said. "We played two solid games against two very good teams."

Mathew Barzal scored, and Ilya Sorokin made 19 saves for the Islanders (15-10-0), who are 0-5-1 in their past six home games against Nashville.
"I feel like every game could literally go either way when we play Nashville," Barzal said. "That's a good hockey [team] over there. They're heavy and strong, good D, so, yeah, could have gone either way."
Forsberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 14:18 of the first period when he dropped to a knee and one-timed Duchene's feed from the right face-off circle past Sorokin to the near side.
Josi made it 2-0 with a power play goal at 8:22 of the second period with a one-timer from beyond the circles after a pass from Forsberg.
Nashville went 2-for-3 with the man-advantage.
"Our power play was very good," Hynes said.
Barzal was denied by Lankinen on a breakaway at 14:13 but cut it to 2-1 on a power play at 11:06 of the third period with a shot from the left circle.
"He definitely did," Barzal said, when asked if the game could be summarized by Lankinen having a strong game. "Yeah."

Duchene (18:47) and Mikael Granlund (19:23) each scored an empty-net goal for the 4-1 final.
New York outshot Nashville 49-23, including 22-7 in the third. Barzal had a game-high nine.
"At the end of the day, there's always a shot that can go in," Barzal said. "It's just we've got to maybe place a few better."

Islanders forward Anders Lee thought he may have scored at 10:12 of the first when Lankinen was unable to glove his one-timer from the left circle, and the puck rolled behind him before it was frozen. But the on-ice officials immediately ruled no-goal, and video review determined the puck did not completely cross the goal line.
Forsberg scored 4:06 later.
"We did a good job at times," New York coach Lane Lambert said. "We had some situations. A goal is going in and it hits (Predators defenseman Ryan) McDonagh in the face. A puck lays on the goal line. It was just one of those nights."
NOTES: Duchene's goal was the 300th of his career. He is the second player from the 2009 NHL Draft to reach the milestone; Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares, the No. 1 pick, has 403. Duchene went No. 3 to the Colorado Avalanche. … Hynes did not have an update on McDonagh, who left the game after he was struck in the face by a backhand shot from Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov with 9:04 remaining in the third. … It was Josi's 134th NHL multipoint game. He has 562 career points, four shy of the Predators record, held by David Legwand (546). … New York forward Josh Bailey had two shots on goal in 13:43 of ice time after missing the previous two games with an upper-body injury. … Islanders forward Cole Bardreau had two hits in 6:37 after being recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Thursday. It was Bardreau's first NHL game since Feb. 13, 2020.