Recap: Jets 4, Islanders 2

On a frigid night in Winnipeg the New York Islanders ran into a hot goaltender, falling 4-2 to the Jets at Bell MTS Place.
The Isles peppered Connor Hellebuyck with 44 shots, but a pair of goals from Anders Lee was not enough in what was a fast, loose and ultimately frustrating contest. The loss ended the Islanders two-game winning streak and was the Isles first regulation defeat in Manitoba since the Jets relocated from Atlanta in 2011.
BOXSCORE - PHOTO GALLERY - THE SKINNY

"If we play like that and have chances like that every night we're going to win most of those games," said Lee whose 24th goal of the season tied Nikita Kucherov and Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead. "You have to tip the cap a bit to Hellebuyck on the other side, he played a hell of a game."

The Islanders did everything but score in the first period, outshooting Winnipeg 19-12, including a host of top-tier chances, but Hellebuyck was the difference. The Jets goalie, who didn't play last Saturday in Brooklyn, made a circus pad save on an Andrew Ladd on a two-on-one in the opening minutes of the contest and stymied John Tavares with another later in the period.
The Jets rode their goalie to a 2-0 first period lead, as Shawn Matthias opened the scoring off a rebound at 2:32 and Blake Wheeler tapped in a Kyle Connor feed on a 3-on-1 at 16:57 of the first. Both goals came shortly after Hellebuyck's big stops on Ladd and Tavares, respectively.
The Islanders withstood a push from the Jets to start the second period and got on the board, as a Tavares one-timer grazed off Lee's hip and past Hellebuyck at 14:46. With an assist, Tavares extended his point streak to nine games, while Josh Bailey, who had the second assist, extended his streak to a career-long 10 games. Bailey also owns the longest active streak in the NHL. The Islanders finished the period with another 19 shots, leading the SOG 38-24 after two periods.
"We would have loved to have capitalized on some of those opportunities in all three periods, but really we generated our most in the first two," Tavares said. "[Hellebuyck] played well."

Jaroslav Halak (33 saves) kept the Islanders within striking distance through two periods, but the Jets broke through twice in the final frame taking advantage of an Isles team pressing for the tying goal. Connor's shot deflected off Dennis Seidenberg's stick at 3:31 to put Winnipeg 3-1, while Adam Lowry tipped home a power-play goal at 12:03 to make it 4-1.
Lee scored his second of the night with 3:32 to play, but that's as close as the Islanders came. After putting 38 shots on net through two periods, the Islanders managed six in the third.
"It's a long season," Tavares said. "We just have to regroup and move onto the next one."
NEXT GAME:
The Islanders road trip continues on Sunday as they take on the Colorado Avalanche on New Year's Eve. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. eastern.