Islanders ease past Jets, end 6-game skid

ELMONT, N.Y. --  Cal Clutterbuck scored twice, and the New York Islanders ended a six-game skid with a 6-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets at UBS Arena on Saturday.

“We got inside, and we got in front of them,” Clutterbuck said. “A lot of our goals were second opportunities and not first opportunities. For the first two periods, we did a good job of really getting to the inside and putting pucks there.”

Mathew Barzal and Hudson Fasching each had a goal and two assists, and Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves for the Islanders (30-25-15), who were outscored 26-9 over the six losses (0-5-1). They host the New Jersey Devils on Sunday.

New York remained six points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division; Philadelphia won 3-2 against the Boston Bruins on Saturday. The Islanders trail the Detroit Red Wings by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference; the Red Wings lost 1-0 at the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

“We'll enjoy it here for about a half hour, and then when we leave the rink today, it's all about tomorrow,” Barzal said. “We have such a singular focus right now on every game, and that's really just our mindset. Just every game is so big for us in the standings, and staying alive, and getting off the schneid. We probably deserved better in a few games, and it was unfortunate, and tonight you see some bounces going in and things like that. So, it's a massive win for us.”

Vladislav Namestnikov, Mason Appleton, and Cole Perfetti scored for the Jets (44-21-5), who have lost the past two of a five-game road trip (2-2-0) that concludes at the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Connor Hellebuyck allowed five goals on 26 shots before being pulled in the second period. Laurent Brossoit made 12 saves in relief.

Winnipeg is third in the Central Division, two points behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.

“We didn’t match that intensity, and that’s the result we got in the first two periods,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. “I don’t know where we’ll sit after that game, but we’ve been one of the best defenses at 5-on-5 in the League all year; we pride ourselves on playing that way. … Clearly, that wasn’t there tonight.”

Clutterbuck gave New York a 1-0 lead at 5:22 of the first period, backhanding a rebound past Hellebuyck’s right pad after an offensive-zone face-off.

He scored again at 8:50 when he took a pass from Matt Martin and beat Hellebuyck with a wrist shot from the left circle to make it 2-0.

Namestnikov cut it to 2-1 at 11:20 on the Jets’ second shot of the game, scoring on a breakaway after a feed from Morgan Barron.

Kyle Palmieri gave New York a 3-1 lead at 16:47. He took a cross-ice feed from Brock Nelson and roofed a shot over Hellebuyck to the far post from the edge of the right circle.

The Islanders outshot the Jets 15-3 in the first.

“We just played so well,” New York coach Patrick Roy said. “We were not fancy. We were putting pucks deep, we were putting pucks at the net. We were playing very north from our breakout and our neutral-zone regroup. We move that puck quick. We put the puck deep, put pressure on their defense, and held onto the puck a lot in the first period. So, I was very happy to see that.”

Fasching made it 4-1 at 1:51 of the second period, scoring on the forehand in front after a pass by Barzal from along the right half-wall.

Barzal extended the lead to 5-1 at 9:11, knocking in a loose puck for his second goal in as many games after a six-game drought.

Hellebuyck was replaced by Brossoit after Barzal’s goal.

“That’s the first time we’ve had to pull our goaltender all year; [we] left both those goaltenders out to dry,” Winnipeg associate coach Scott Arniel said. “That was the most goals we’ve given up, so that was just not enough desperation in those first two periods in how we needed to play.”

Anders Lee made it 6-1 at 15:32. After Barzal won an offensive-zone face-off, Lee collected the puck in the right circle, spun and stuffed it past Brossoit.

Appleton cut it to 6-2 at 7:37 of the third period on a rebound of Nikolaj Ehlers’ shot, and Perfetti got a long wrist shot past a screened Varlamov at 17:50 for the 6-3 final.

NOTES: The Islanders are 8-1-0 in their past nine games against the Jets. … Clutterbuck does not have a hat trick in 1,051 NHL games. … Palmieri has scored in five straight at home. … It was Perfetti’s first goal in 24 games; he returned after being scratched for four games. … Winnipeg defensemen Brenden Dillon and Neal Pionk, and forward Kyle Connor, each was minus-4; center Mark Scheifele was minus-3 and lost 11 of 13 face-offs.