Takeaways: Islanders Cruise to 7-2 Victory Over Red Wings  

The New York Islander earned their fourth straight win with a 7-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at UBS Arena.

Emil Heineman (2G), Tony DeAngelo (1G, 1A), JG Pageau, Kyle Palmieri and Mathew Barzal (1G, 1A) scored and Anders Lee had three assists in the offensive clinic.

David Rittich made 31 saves in the winning effort. Dylan Larkin (PPG), Jonatan Berggren scored late goals for Detroit while Cam Talbot turned aside 23 of 30 shots faced.

With the win, the Islanders improved their record to 4-3-0 on the season, marking the first time they’ve been above NHL.-500 this year. The Islanders scored seven goals for the first time since Mar. 1 (7-4 win over Nashville).

TAKEAWAYS

- The Isles were laser focused on a strong start and they capitalized off a Detroit team playing in the second half of a back-to-back set. The Islanders came out of the gate with a sound defensive game, an 11-5 shot advantage and a 2-0 lead to show for it after 20 minutes, which set the stage in the win. Rittich’s save against Lucas Raymond early in the first period gave the team a boost.

“Fortunately for us, we were able to get going right away,” said DeAngelo, who opened the scoring at 2:05. “They had a chance, we got a good save from Rittich and we turned it on.”

- Heineman recorded his first-career multi-goal game and extended his career-long point streak to five games (5G, 1A). He showed off his flashy finish twice – scoring off a Bo Horvat feed off the rush in the first period and swiftly depositing the second goal of the game and rifling a one-timer to take a 6-1 advantage in the third period. At 23-year-old, the winger’s all-around game has been impressive to watch.

“[Heineman’s got] great passes, but it’s more than that,” Roy said. “It’s how he defends, how quick he’s jumping [into the play] and finding those openings for the pass. It’s fun to watch.”

- Pageau’s line with Holmstrom and Lee had an impressive outing, with the trio recording six points (2G, 4A) collectively. Lee dazzled with his fifth three-assist game of his career, notching his second of the night with a perfectly timed pass to Pageau alone in the slot to make it 3-0. The line clicked off the bat, with Holmstrom elevated to a line with Pageau and Lee in the absence of Max Shabanov (day to day), who missed the game with an upper-body injury. Lee had a game-high six shots on goal, and 10 total attempts to go with his three assists.

“Our captain was a beast out there,” Roy said. “Holmstrom had a good game, I thought he was really strong on the PK, I loved his puck possession offensively and he skated well. “

- Holmstrom netted his first goal of the season in a culmination of his growing confidence. He started the game strong and with poise, carrying the puck through the neutral zone to dish a pass to Lee who set up DeAngelo to open the scoring.

- Rittich had a solid second start for the Isles, coming up big against Alex DeBrincat twice – denying his shot in tight the second period and extending to make a stellar stick save in the final frame. His shutout bid ended moments after the highlight-reel save, with Larkin putting one through five-hole at 3:11 of the third period. It was a solid outing overall for the Isles’ newest netminder, who kicked off the four-game winning streak when he earned a 4-2 win on Thursday against Edmonton. Roy said that Rittich is a true competitor, from how he competes in practice to how talkative he is on the ice.

- The Islanders cleaned up their play at five-on-five and their defensive structure overall, which were two areas of improvement from their last two games. The Isles 10 giveaways were a season-low and less than half of Tuesday’s game against San Jose (21).

“We were more connected as a group of five,” DeAngelo said. “I thought we played a better game tonight than we have, obviously we’ve been winning so it doesn’t matter how you do it, but eventually you want to get to where you’re trying to be.”

- Horvat extended his point streak to four games (5G, 2A), while Barzal racked up six points (2G, 4A) over that span. Matthew Schaefer’s six-game point streak (2G, 5A) came to an end.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders are kicking off a four-game road trip. First stop, the Philadelphia Flyers for a matinee contest at 12:30 p.m.