Joshua Ho-Sang helps Islanders past Oilers
New York forward scores first NHL goal in win against Edmonton
by Derek Van Diest / NHL.com Correspondent
EDMONTON -- Joshua Ho-Sang scored his first NHL goal and Thomas Greiss made 27 saves to help the New York Islanders to a 4-1 win against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Tuesday.
Ho-Sang says wearing No. 66 'ultimate respect'
Ho-Sang scored on the power play at 17:23 of the first period when he one-timed Thomas Hickey 's feed through traffic and past Cam Talbot to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead.
Anders Lee had two goals and Andrew Ladd also scored for New York (31-23-11), which has a one-point lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The Islanders are 4-2-1 with two games remaining on their nine-game road trip.
WATCH: All Islanders vs. Oilers highlights
"It's really nice. There are no words to describe it," said Ho-Sang, a first-round pick (No. 28) at the 2014 NHL Draft. "It's such a relief to score and it makes you feel like you belong and things are possible and you know all your dreams are coming true in front of your eyes, which is cool. For me, it was a very special moment."
Zack Kassian scored for Edmonton (35-23-8), and Talbot made 23 saves.
Kassian tied the game 1-1 at 2:58 of the second period, tipping in a point shot from defenseman Matt Benning.
Lee's first of two goals was scored at 9:45 of the second period and proved to be the game-winner. Lee collected a rebound in front of the net and slid the puck past Talbot.
Video: NYI@EDM: Ho-Sang hammers home his first career goal
Lee scored an empty-net goal with one minute remaining, his 25th of the season.
"We were really good tonight," Lee said. "They're still going to get a lot of opportunities, but I think we limited them as much as possible and played a tight-knit game, and you have to do that as much as possible in a building like this with their team."
Ladd gave the Islanders a 3-1 lead at 7:04 of the third period, his 18th of the season.
"They got a power-play goal, we didn't," Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. "They chose to block a lot of shots in power-play situations, we didn't. They scored a blue-paint, playoff-type goal, we didn't. And we had numerous opportunities with open nets and didn't bear down."
Video: NYI@EDM: Kassian deflects home Benning's point shot
Goal of the game
Nelson made a cross-crease pass from behind the net to Ladd to set up New York's third goal.
Video: NYI@EDM: Ladd buries Nelson's fancy backhand pass
Save of the game
Greiss sprawled across his net to make a glove save on Leon Draisaitl at 7:09 of the second period.
Video: NYI@EDM: Greiss flashes the leather to rob Draisaitl
Unsung performance of the game
Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech was solid on the penalty kill and blocked a game-high five shots.
Highlight of the game
Josh Bailey took a pass from John Tavares in the slot and put a shot on goal, which Talbot stopped. But Lee got to the rebound and slid the puck into the net for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Video: NYI@EDM: Lee kicks rebound to stick to beat Talbot
They said it
"I've gotten the opportunities to play against some of the best; Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, [Artemi] Panarin, [Jonathan] Toews, [Patrick] Kane, [Connor] McDavid, [Johnny] Gaudreau, [Sean] Monahan, and that's in the span of four games. For me, it's really nice to see that talent level and what it takes to be great every night and just trying to implement some of that stuff into my game and try to contribute." -- Islanders forward Joshua Ho-Sang
"Nothing is given. Just because you have prime scoring chances, doesn't automatically mean they will go in. Bearing down on those opportunities, they got the big second goal and were able to create momentum off of it. We just weren't able to get that second one to get our game going, and the frustration built up as a team as the game went on." -- Oilers forward Milan Lucic
"We couldn't capitalize on our chances. They did a better job of that than us, and that was the difference in the game. We have to find ways to win games. We did it on the last road trip, maybe not playing our best, but still finding ways to win games. Tonight wasn't a good enough job of finding those goals when we really needed them. But we can't get frustrated; frustration is going to get us nowhere." -- Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
Need to know
Islanders forward Shane Prince did not play in the third period because of a lower-body injury. ... Doug Weight is 14-6-3 since taking over as Islanders coach on Jan. 17. … Lee also scored 25 goals in 2014-2015. … Oilers center Connor McDavid's five-game point streak ended.
What's next
Islanders: At the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, MSG, NHL.TV)
Oilers: Host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, ROOT, NHL.TV)
Video: Ho-Sang nets first NHL goal to pace Isles past Oilers