Horvat stays hot with two goals, Islanders defeat Blackhawks

ELMONT, N.Y. -- Bo Horvat scored twice, including a power-play goal for a third straight game, and the New York Islanders defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 at UBS Arena on Thursday.

Emil Heineman and Anthony Duclair also scored, and Logan Stanley had two assists for the Islanders (2-2-0). Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.

Sorokin’s shutout streak was the longest of his career at 165:31. He was vying for his second straight shutout; he and the Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-0 on Saturday, when he had 37 saves. 

Semyon Varlamov was in net for a 5-2 loss at the New York Rangers on Tuesday.

“It was a good, good game for us,” New York coach Peter DeBoer said. “Getting the first goal was, I think, important. It was an important power play. I thought our special teams were the difference early in the game, and then I liked our game as the game went on. I liked a lot of our 5-on-5 detail. We did some really good things.”

Frank Nazar scored, and Arvid Soderblom made 15 saves for the Blackhawks (1-4-0).

“We did a lot of positive things throughout the game but probably didn’t get enough out of it,” Chicago coach Jeff Blashill said. “I talked with the group. I thought we were the better team and then in one sequence of events, we beat ourselves. We turned the puck over, take a penalty and we blew an assignment on the penalty kill. We just beat ourselves.”

Horvat gave New York a 1-0 lead on the power play at 19:03 of the first period. He won a face-off back to Matthew Schaefer, whose wrist shot from the point was stopped by Soderblom before Horvat gathered the rebound in front, pushed the puck to his left and scored inside the left post.

Sorokin stopped a Cole Smith backhand on a breakaway at 1:08 of the second period. The goalie slid into the net on the play, but after a video review by The Situation Room, there was no conclusive evidence to determine whether the puck crossed the goal line.

Heineman beat Soderblom from the high slot to put the Islanders up 2-0 at 6:44. Matias Maccelli found him cutting into the slot with a pass from the right wall.

“You feel like you are in control of the game. Then, they get one off the power play and they get one off a turnover and it’s 2-0 and you’re chasing the game,” Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said. “It’s little situations like that where we can do better.”

Duclair pushed the lead to 3-0 at 9:38, burying a one-time pass by Stanley from the right side.

“It starts with Duclair’s forecheck,” Stanley said. “He was on the puck and created a turnover. (Jean-Gabriel) Pageau makes a good play, and Duclair was yelling at me. Must have been open on the on the back door because he was screaming for it. So it's good talk by him. If he doesn't yell for it, who knows if I see him out of the corner of my eyes. It’s a big goal for us to take that 3-0 lead.”

Nazar ended Sorokin's shutout, cutting it to 3-1 at 17:26 of the third period with Soderblom pulled for the extra attacker. He beat Sorokin high blocker side with a one-timer from between the circles off a pass from Kane.

Horvat then scored into an empty net for his second of the game and the 4-1 final at 18:27.

“It’s a really big win, I would say,” Heineman said. “… I like the way we played as a team and how we bounced back. We want to get things on a roll now.”

NOTES: Horvat left the game at 18:27 of the third after taking an illegal check to the head from Nazar following his shot toward the empty net. Horvat was still being evaluated after the game. Nazar was given a five-minute match penalty. … Horvat (five points; one goal, four assists) has a four-game point streak to open the season. … Adam Pelech (179 points; 30 goals, 149 assists) assisted on Heineman’s goal and tied Mark Streit for 10th in Islanders history among defenseman. … At 8:00 elapsed time in the third period, Sorokin (108:00) established the longest home shutout streak to begin a season in franchise history. He bested Glenn Resch (107:20 in 1975-76). … Kane’s assist was the 893rd of his career. He moved within one of tying Phil Housley for the most by an American-born player in NHL history.