3 Takeaways: Special Teams and Sorokin Lead Isles Past Oilers 3-1

The New York Islanders continued their incredible home run against the Edmonton Oilers, picking up a 3-1 win on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.

Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored power-play goals, while Simon Holmstrom continued his reign as the shorthanded king, as the Isles improved to 13-1-2 in their last 16 games against the Oilers on home ice. In the process, the Islanders extended their home point streak to nine games.

“Good, solid game, start to finish,” Lee said. “They had a nice play off the start, but after that settled in and played a really good hockey game, kind of one of those ones where we had big kills, big power-play moments, obviously a shorthanded goal and just good five on five play.”

Leon Draisaitl scored the lone for the Oilers, who dropped their third straight game. Ilya Sorokin stopped 30-of-31 in the win, while Stuart Skinner stopped 18-of-21 in the loss.

POWER PLAY POWERS WIN:

After falling behind 1-0 in the first period, the Islanders used their red-hot power play to wrestle back control of Tuesday’s game, scoring a pair of power-play goals in the second period, ultimately going two-for-four on the night.

Anders Lee got the Isles on the board, shoveling in a loose puck after Stuart Skinner stopped a Kyle Palmieri wrister. The Palmieri point was a good omen for the Isles, as the team improved to 13-1-2 when Palmieri records a point. As for Lee, the Isles captain was actually a late substitution on that unit, jumping in for Brock Nelson who had a skate issue on the bench. Lee joked that Nelson should get an assist.

Nelson would factor in on the next goal, as he fed Bo Horvat with a cross-ice feed that Horvat buried from the bumper position in the slot at the 11:30 mark. The goal extended Horvat’s career-long point streak to 11 games, with 17 points (8G, 9A) over that span.

“I guess it's just it's just happening for me right now,” Horvat said. “It definitely feels good to get wins behind it.”

Nelson’s assist was another good omen, as the Isles improved to 9-0-2 when Nelson registers an assist.

Monday marked the fifth time the Isles had scored multiple power play goals this season. The Islanders power play is now 17-for-49 (34.6%) since Nov. 15.

THE SHORTHANDED KING STRIKES AGAIN:

Simon Holmstrom scored his league-leading fifth shorthanded goal of the season on Tuesday, whipping a JG Pageau feed past Stuart Skinner on a two-on-one rush at 14:10 of the middle frame.

“Just good chemistry and a couple of lucky bounces of course,” Holmstrom said of his shorthanded streak. “We're reading off each other pretty well.”

Holmstrom is now up to 10 goals on the season and five shorthanded tallies, two back of the Isles single-season record, currently held by Frans Nielsen and Bob Bourne.

The Islanders shorthanded unit had a good night against one of the NHL’s hottest power plays, killing off all four penalties, including a 58-second five-on-three. Sorokin also stopped all eight shots on Edmonton’s power play opportunities.

“We had some good blocks, huge blocks,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said of the Isles five-on-three kill. “We just had good sticks and when they did get an opportunity, our goalie made a save, but certainly our guys were prepared.”

SOROKIN STANDS TALL IN WIN:

It’s not how Ilya Sorokin’s night started, but rather how it ended for the Islanders netminder.

Sorokin allowed the first shot of the game to Leon Draisaitl, as the German center whipped a wrister high glove side, but stopped the next 30, keeping the high-octane Oilers at bay.

The Russian netminder had to be sharp in the immediate aftermath of the Draisaitl goal, allowing the Isles to get their footing. He was perfect in the third period, stopping all 15 Edmonton shots in the final frame.

“We just did such a good job of defending the house tonight,” Horvat said. “We kind of limited their grade-a scoring opportunities. They obviously had a lot of jam plays and a lot of little things around the net, but Sorokin came up huge and has been huge for us all year.”

Sorokin stopped all three shots from Connor McDavid, whose 12-game point streak came to a halt. He had an additional three saves on Oilers leading goal scorer Zach Hyman.

The Isles netminder deflected more than pucks on Tuesday, as he gave credit to his teammates for blocking 22 shots.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are back in action on Wednesday when they take on the Washington Capitals. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.