THE SCORING:
1st Period:
3:36 - MIN 1, NYI 0 - Brandon Duhaime opens the scoring, chipping in a loose puck after a centering feed hits Noah Dobson in front.
4:39 - MIN 2, NYI 0 PPG - Joel Eriksson Ek makes it 2-0, patiently waiting at the side of the net, looking off a defenseman before sneaking a shot through Ilya Sorokin.
13:56 - MIN 2, NYI 1 - Brock Nelson cuts the deficit to 2-1, as Robin Salo's shot is blocked in the slot and lands on Nelson's stick before he slides it past Kaapo Kahkonen.
2nd Period:
2:39 - MIN 3, NYI 1 - Matt Boldy tips a Victor Rask shot past Sorokin to put Minnesota up 3-1.
4:03 - MIN 3, NYI 2 - Duhaime fans on a pass at the Wild blueline and Johnston skates in alone and beats Kahkonen stick side.
3rd Period:
11:27 - MIN 4, NYI 2 - Kirill Kaprizov deflects a Matt Dumba point shot past his former CSKA Moscow teammate in Sorokin.
16:00 - MIN, NYI 3 PPG - Oliver Wahlstrom dives at a loose puck and pokes a rebound home to pull the Isles within one late. It is Wahlstrom's first goal since Dec. 7.
NOTEBOOK:
Casey Cizikas missed Sunday's contest with a non-COVID illness... Ross Johnston drew back into the lineup for the first time since Jan. 13. Johnston missed three games due to a suspension and was a healthy scratch for the past four games... Zach Parise filled in for Cizikas on the Islanders Identity Line, while Johnston played with JG Pageau and Oliver Wahlstrom... With a a goal and assist on Eriksson Ek's power-play goal, Kirill Kaprizov has 20 points (8G, 12A) in his last 11 games... Kevin Fiala extended his franchise-record point streak to 11 games, while Mats Zuccarello's streak ended at 10 games...
GOALTENDING MATCHUP:
Ilya Sorokin stopped 17-of-21 shots in the loss.
Kaapo Kahkonen stopped 40-of-43 shots in the win.
SPECIAL TEAMS:
The Islanders power play went 1-for-4 while the penalty kill was 1-for-2.
IMAGE OF THE GAME:
The Islanders dedicated a plaque to late owner Charles B. Wang, who helped keep the team in New York and was one of the visionaries behind building UBS Arena at Belmont Park.
