Eberle hat trick helps Islanders eliminate Red Wings in return home

UNIONDALE, N.Y.-- Jordan Eberle scored a hat trick, and the New York Islanders ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Nassau Coliseum on Friday.

Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for New York (34-20-6), which scored twice on a four-game road trip that ended Wednesday. The Islanders moved into the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoff from the Eastern Conference.
Varlamov made his fourth straight start; he has allowed seven goals in those games.
WATCH: [All Red Wings vs. Islanders highlights]
"[Varlamov's] been lights out," Eberle said. "He gave us a chance to win every game on the road there, and he did tonight. He made some big saves. There were some moments where we collapsed a little bit in the [defensive] zone, they had some great chances, and [Varlamov] was there."
Anthony Mantha scored, and Jonathan Bernier made 36 saves for Detroit (15-44-4), which is 3-14-1 in its past 18 games and was eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention.
"It [stinks] to be in a spot where you're eliminated this early," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "But that part of it [stunk] for a while. We knew we've been out for too long, and there's no other word to describe it than it [stinks], and that's a fact."

Eberle redirected Ryan Pulock's one-timer to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 5:45 of the first period.
Varlamov and defenseman Andy Greene kept New York in the lead at 3:13 of the second period when Greene blocked Andreas Athanasiou's pass from the right face-off circle to an open Valtteri Filppula that led to a right-pad save by Varlamov against Trevor Daley.
"Second period, first 10 minutes, we got a huge save from I want to say Greene/Varlamov," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "To me, that was a game-changer right there. The goals haven't been coming easy. The second half of that period, I thought we were pretty relentless. We stayed on them and we got lots of chances."
New York outshot Detroit 13-2 in the first period, and Bernier made 20 saves in the second.
Eberle made it 2-0 at 17:02 of the second when Mathew Barzal passed to him alone in the left circle for a wrist shot. He completed his third NHL hat trick -- first with the Islanders -- with 37 seconds remaining in the third period when he scored off Greene's rebound for a power-play goal to make it 3-1.
The Islanders were awarded the man-advantage after Red Wings center Dylan Larkin tripped Leo Komarov.
"I cost us the game there," Larkin said. "It was a bad play by me. I put my stick in there. There's no need for that really."
It was Eberle's 13th goal of the season; six have been scored against the Red Wings.
"Wish I knew," Eberle said when asked why he's had so much success against Detroit. "You go on a road trip and you have tons of chances and it doesn't go in. You get one off your knee, one bounce right to you. It's just funny how the game works sometimes. The only thing you can really do is just continue to try and create, and eventually the puck goes in."
Mantha's power-play goal ended Varlamov's shutout with 2:35 remaining in the third period on a redirection of a pass from Mike Green to make it 2-1.
Komarov scored an empty-net goal with seven seconds left for the 4-1 final. He has four goals this season, three since Feb. 10.

They said it

"I think the first period wasn't enough from us, I think myself and my line (Robby Fabbri and Mantha) especially. We're put out there to generate offense, and take care of the puck and manage it, and I didn't do that especially. I didn't bring enough energy to spark the team, and I put that on myself there at the start to try and get something going and get the team going." -- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin
"Every game's a playoff game now. There's stuff that we can control and there's some stuff that we couldn't control. The season is sort of like the stock market, it's not always going to go [up, up, up]. You're going to have some bad days and some bad weeks, and you're going to have some good days and good weeks. All I know at this point from all my years of experience [is] you want to be in the position where we are with 20-odd games to go because you're playing meaningful games. If we play well and get in, that'll serve us well because we've had to go through adversity, we've had to go through some ups and downs through the season, and that makes you a better team." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz

Need to know

Islanders forward Andrew Ladd had six hits in 11:25 in his second NHL game this season. He was recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League on Friday. ... The Red Wings claimed defenseman Cody Goloubef off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Friday and returned defenseman Brian Lashoff to Grand Rapids of the AHL. ... Eberle had two hat tricks with the Edmonton Oilers (Toronto Maple Leafs, Feb. 11, 2016; Vancouver Canucks, April 9, 2017). ... The Islanders retired No. 27 in honor of forward John Tonelli before the game. The number will continue to be worn by forward Anders Lee.

What's next

Red Wings: Host the Calgary Flames on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; SN, FS-D+, NHL.TV)
Islanders: Host the San Jose Sharks on Sunday (Nassau Coliseum, 5 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG+, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)