Varlamov makes 41 saves, Islanders shut out Predators

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Semyon Varlamov made 41 saves for the New York Islanders, who won their fourth straight game with a 2-0 victory against the Nashville Predators at UBS Arena on Saturday.

It was the third shutout of the season for Varlamov, who has started four of the past six games (3-1-0).

“He was outstanding. He looks so confident out there,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “It looked like it was an easy game. I was happy to see him play that way. We needed it. It’s four games in six nights for us. Guys might have been a bit tired, and I think that's the reason why we had a few more turnovers than normal, but our goalie gave us the chance to win this game tonight. He won the game for us tonight.”

Noah Dobson and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Islanders (35-27-15), who remained two points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 earlier on Saturday, for third in the Metropolitan Division.

“From the start of the game, we had everyone buying into what we needed to do to be successful,” New York forward Casey Cizikas said. “That's a good hockey team over there. They've had a lot of success lately. For what we did out there, it's a lot to be proud of, a lot to learn from, and we just got to keep this thing going.”

Kevin Lankinen made 28 saves for the Predators (44-29-4), who have lost four of their past five games.

Nashville holds the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, seven points ahead of the St. Louis Blues.

“I think we're playing some good hockey. We were on a really good stretch, and it's just, sometimes, the bounces and momentum of the game and stuff,” Nashville forward Anthony Beauvillier said. “It was a good game tonight. We had a lot of chances, just couldn't score and ran into a really good, hot goalie tonight. So, sometimes you have to tip your cap and move forward.”

Dobson gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 9:07 of the second period. After Mike Reilly received a pass from Mathew Barzal at the left point, he sent the puck back to Dobson, who scored through traffic from the right point.

“Good play by Barzal getting the puck up top, and [Reilly] made a nice play to have some good poise to get it back over to me,” Dobson said. “I just tried to get my head up and find the shot, and [Cizikas] did a great job in front with the screen.”

The Islanders preserved the one-goal lead by killing off back-to-back penalties in the third period. Varlamov made the biggest save during the kills at 6:51, when he used his stick to knock away a backdoor pass from Gustav Nyquist.

"When we had to kill, we killed," Varlamov said. "Guys blocked a lot of shots, especially from (Roman) Josi, he was shooting the whole night tonight. So, the PK was a key for us tonight. [Nashville] is a very skilled offensive team.

"Some pucks I saw and some pucks I didn't, a couple of times I thought I got lucky. They missed a few, like, opportunities. Luck was definitely on my side today."

Palmieri scored an empty-net goal at 18:41 for the 2-0 final.

The Predators outshot the Islanders 20-10 in the third period.

“I thought it was a good hockey game,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “They were a desperate team. I thought they defended their blue paint really well. I thought we did a lot of good things all through the ice, all through the game. Maybe we were a little bit sluggish early, and I thought we got going. We just couldn’t buy a goal late in the game.”

NOTES: It was New York's first win against Nashville since Oct. 28, 2017 (0-8-2 in previous 10 games). ... Dobson's goal was his 10th of the season. ... Barzal extended his point streak to four games (five assists).