Islanders open trip with win against Red Wings

DETROIT -- Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist to help the New York Islanders to a 3-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday.
Calvin de Haan and John Tavares also scored, and Thomas Greiss made 26 saves for New York (28-21-10), which opened a nine-game road trip.
"I love the grit," Islanders coach Doug Weight said. "The guys came together and showed we can be a good road team."

WATCH: All Islanders vs. Red Wings highlights
The Islanders were 1-4-0 in their previous five road games and are 8-13-4 away from Barclays Center. The win moved them into a three-way tie with the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins at 66 points each for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Florida has played one fewer game than Boston and New York.
"This is exactly the start to this trip we needed," Tavares said. "We're right in the middle of a crazy race, and we need to use these games to create some separation between us and the other teams."
Henrik Zetterberg scored and Petr Mrazek made 24 saves for Detroit (24-26-10), which was coming off wins against the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Red Wings are off until next Tuesday.

"It's never fun to lose, whether it is game 10 or game 60," Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. "We know what we are up against, and every night means two big points. Tonight, we didn't get any of them."
Bailey made it 1-0 with five minutes remaining in the first period when he intercepted Mrazek's clearing attempt and scored his 12th goal of the season.
"I was trying to make a play, but I should have waited a little longer," Mrazek said.
Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield took a penalty with 3.2 seconds remaining in the first period, and Zetterberg's snap shot beat Greiss with 0.1 seconds left to tie the game.

"We didn't let that deflate us, because we knew we were playing a good game," Greiss said.
New York took a 2-1 lead with a power-play goal at 10:46 of the second period when de Haan's shot was stopped by Mrazek, but the rebound hit Red Wings defenseman Xavier Ouellet in the face, bounced off his chest and in off Mrazek's leg.
Tavares made it 3-1 at 3:42 of the third period when he one-timed Bailey's pass under the crossbar for his 22nd goal. The Red Wings challenged the call, claiming Bailey was offside, but the goal stood.

Goal of the game

With the Islanders leading 2-1 early in the third period, Bailey gloved Tomas Tatar's clearing attempt out of the air, took the puck diagonally across the zone and slid a pass across the edge of the crease for Tavares' one-timer. "That was just a great play by Josh," Tavares said. "He created two of our goals with heads-up plays, and that's huge."

Save of the game

Tavares nearly gave the Islanders a two-goal lead late in the second period after taking a pass from Nikolay Kulemin in front of the net, but Mrazek reached back with his stick to deflect his shot off the line.

Highlight of the game

After Bailey tempted Mrazek into making his unwise clearing attempt, he still needed to avoid one more player. Anders Lee had broken toward the front of the net when Mrazek shot the puck, and found himself between Bailey and the net. "We were laughing about it on the bench," Bailey said.

Unsung performance of the game

Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk played a game-high 22:43 despite having to be helped off the ice early in the third period after blocking a shot with his right foot. He missed multiple shifts, but came back in time to help kill a goalie interference penalty against Lee midway through the third period.

They said it

"It went off my blocker straight into [Ouellet's] face, and then I lost it. I didn't see it again until it hit my pad." -- Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek on Calvin de Haan's goal
"This is huge, because it shows us we can win these road games." -- Islanders forward Josh Bailey

Need to know

The Islanders lost forwards Casey Cizikas (upper body) and Cal Clutterbuck (lower body) to injuries in the second period. Clutterbuck had just returned after missing nine straight games. Weight said Cizikas would have further tests on Wednesday. Clutterbuck was removed for precautionary reasons after aggravating his existing injury. … Bailey entered with no goals and one assist in his past seven games. … Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said goaltender Jimmy Howard (knee) isn't healthy enough to play for Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League while the Red Wings are off the rest of this week. Howard hasn't played since Dec. 20.

What's next

Islanders: At the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; SNE, RDS, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: At the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 28 (10 p.m. ET; SNP, FS-D, NHL.TV)