Holmstrom breaks tie in 3rd period, Islanders defeat Jets

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Simon Holmstrom broke a tie in the third period, and the New York Islanders defeated the Winnipeg Jets 2-1 at UBS Arena on Wednesday.

Holmstrom, who entered with three goals in 32 NHL games, gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 9:57 with a wrist shot from the edge of the right face-off circle after a drop pass from Bo Horvat.
"Just a good forecheck from our line (with Horvat and Matt Martin) there," Holmstrom said. "... I got a good pass from Bo there and I was just trying to hit the net.
" … It was just unbelievable. It was just a great goal to score and a huge win for us."

Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves, and Sebastian Aho also scored for the Islanders (30-24-7), who have won three of their past four games.
"We did what we had to do to come out with the two points," New York forward Zach Parise said. "We need a lot of those at this time of year; it doesn't matter how you do it. We took care of business."
Nikolaj Ehlers scored in his 500th NHL game for the Jets (35-22-1), who finished 1-3-0 on a four-game road trip. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves after making 50 in a 4-1 win at the New York Rangers on Monday.
"It's a double-edged sword," Winnipeg forward Adam Lowry said. "You obviously need the results, [but] at the same time, we're building for the playoffs. We're [going to] make sure we're comfortable in these type [of] games. So, obviously you want to get the results, and dropping three of four on the road is never a good thing."

Aho gave New York a 1-0 lead during a 4-on-4 situation at 17:35 of the first period. After Jets forward Mason Appleton turned the puck over in the offensive zone, Aho scored on the rebound of Brock Nelson's wrist shot from the right circle.
It was Aho's fifth goal of the season and first in 16 games (Jan. 16).
"That's what you need," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said of secondary scoring. "We're going to have to continue to have that."
Ehlers tied it 1-1 on the power play at 4:30 of the second period when he eluded Islanders forward Kyle Palmieri in the left circle and ripped a wrist shot past Sorokin.
The Jets scored eight goals during the road trip.
"We haven't scored enough to win games," Ehlers said. "When we have scored, we've had traffic in front of the net. So, that's something [we've] got to continue doing."

Winnipeg outshot New York 12-4 in the second but was outshot 7-5 in the third.
"Not only did we come up with the [game-winning] goal, but I thought we did a [really] good job defending in the third," Lambert said. "Much better than we did in the second period."
NOTES:The Islanders have won six straight against the Jets dating to March 28, 2019. The teams will play again Sunday at Winnipeg. … Two of Holmstrom's four goals have been game-winners. … Martin has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past six games. … Nelson has a nine-game point streak at home (11 points; six goals, five assists). … Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov had a game-high six hits in 17:41 of ice time, and defenseman Scott Mayfield led all players with four blocked shots in 20:20. … Jets forward Mark Scheifele played his 700th NHL game. … Winnipeg center Pierre-Luc Dubois won 15 of 18 faceoffs (83 percent).