Chara ties Chelios for games played by defenseman, Islanders top Kraken

SEATTLE --Zdeno Chara tied the record for most NHL games played by a defenseman and Zach Parise had two goals and an assist for the New York Islanders in a 5-2 win against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday.

Chara played his 1,651st NHL game, tying Chris Chelios. The 44-year-old had an assist in 20:15 of ice time for New York and can pass Chelios when the Islanders visit the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
"Most importantly, a much-needed win for us," Parise said. "And it's a really special night for [Chara]. It's really neat for us to be a part of tonight and the next game as well for him to break that record. We're all really happy for him and excited to be a part of what he's accomplishing right now."
Brock Nelson scored for the third straight game, and Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves for the Islanders (19-20-7), who lost four of their previous five.
"At the end of the day, you've got to find a way to score some goals and we did that," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "You've got to find a way to have a good start, we did that. You've got to find a way to stay disciplined and for the most part, we did that. We know that when everything sort of breaks down you need commitment, and we had that. We got big saves and timely saves."

Yanni Gourde scored for the Kraken (16-33-4), who have lost five in a row. Philipp Grubauer made 31 saves.
"We dug ourselves a pretty deep hole in the first half of the hockey game," Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. "We had a little bit of energy in the first period, but we didn't generate anything out of it. We couldn't generate any momentum off that and obviously dug a hole in the first half of the game."
Nelson gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 8:53 of the first period with a wrist shot from the high slot, and Parise made it 2-0 at 17:19 when he redirected a shot from Noah Dobson.
The Islanders outshot the Kraken 13-4 in the first.
Kyle Palmieri made it 3-0 at 5:34 of the second period on a one-timer from Parise. It was his fourth goal in the past four games after scoring once in his first 29 this season.
"It's nice that they're going in right now," Palmieri said. "You just try and work and generate scoring chances. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't, but it's good to get a win tonight and I think we're going to try and build something on this road trip and get the ball rolling in the right direction."
Casey Cizikas scored at 10:33 after a pass off the end boards from Scott Mayfield to give the Islanders a 4-0 lead.

Gourde cut it to 4-1 at 11:18 with a shot over Sorokin's glove.
"You feel the strain of where you're at in your home building, down by three or four, and that just gave us a jolt of energy, Hakstol said. "That gave us a flip of a switch of energy. I give them credit. They did a good job with the puck, they defended well and didn't give us a lot of opportunities."
Riley Sheahan made it 4-2 at 1:35 of the third period, but Parise scored an empty-net goal at 18:02 for the 5-2 final.
Sorokin made nine saves in the third period in his seventh straight start.
"He was really huge when it was 4-2," Trotz said. "He made a couple of huge saves. It was probably a difficult game for him because he didn't have a lot of a lot of work for the first 30 minutes, and then the last 20 or so we gave him a lot of work. So, goaltending is all about key saves at key times, so we got that tonight."
NOTES: It was Parise's first multigoal game since Jan. 14, 2020, when he was playing for the Minnesota Wild. … Islanders center Mathew Barzal played his first game in the Seattle area since leading the Seattle Thunderbirds to a Western Hockey League championship in 2017. Barzal had an assist and was plus-2 in 15:47. … The Islanders scored first for the second time in the past 13 games. They are 17-4-2 when they score at least three goals. … Semyon Varlamov served as Sorokin's backup goalie after he was removed from NHL COVID-19 protocol Monday. … Gourde has scored five points (two goals, three assists) in his past five home games.