Varlamov makes 23 saves, Islanders shut out Jets

WINNIPEG -- Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves for his second shutout of the season for the New York Islanders in a 4-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.

"Sometimes, it's easy. Sometimes, it's very, very hard," Varlamov said. "I was very hungry to play today, so for me it wasn't very hard to stay sharp."
Bo Horvat, Alexander Romanov, Brock Nelson and Adam Pelech scored for the Islanders (31-25-7), who have won three of four.
"I thought the guys the last few games here have been playing with discipline in our structure, and we're making it difficult for teams to generate a little bit." New York coach Lane Lambert said. "We came out of the gates well and only allowed one shot in the first period. … [Winnipeg] may have had some struggles lately, but we just wanted to focus on our game."
David Rittich made 20 saves for the Jets (35-24-1), who have lost three straight and five of six.
"We've talked about this all year, when things don't go well and you're not scoring, don't look for that extra pass and don't look for the perfect goal," Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. "Just put it on the net. We had like 45 shot attempts after two periods, 15 missed the net and 15 were blocked. We need some of those to get through."

The Islanders outshot the Jets 12-1 in the first period.
"We expected them to jump in right away," Varlamov said. "[The Jets] are a hard team to play against here in their home arena. They always come out really hard and they always play a very strong first period. We knew this was coming and that's why we were really prepared. ... I thought that was the key of the game."
Anders Lee appeared to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead 1:30 into the first period, but a video review initiated by the Situation Room determined he deflected the puck in with a high stick.
However, Horvat did make it 1-0 with a short-handed goal at 7:56, surprising Rittich with a snap shot from above the right circle.
It is Horvat's fourth short-handed goal of the season.
"We need to be better in the first periods, we need to be better off the start, and we can't be a fragile team right now," Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said. "I'm not saying that we are, but we certainly can't fall into that mode. We're an aggressive team. We have to be able to make plays, make passes and not just panic because we're going through a little bit of a rut. I thought we got better at that throughout the game."

Romanov made it 2-0 with a point shot that beat Rittich high glove side at 4:22 of the second period.
"I thought our commitment level and our discipline, too, was very good tonight," Lambert said. "We pushed forward and we did a real good job of establishing our game."
Nelson extended it to 3-0 at 18:41 with a shot from the high slot after he put the puck between the skates of Kyle Connor to get open.
"It was a good play," Nelson said. "We weathered a little pressure in the D-zone. It was a nice play by Zach (Parise), got past (Jets defenseman Neal) Pionk and I cut to the middle."
Pelech scored into an empty net at 17:59 of the third period for the 4-0 final.
"We gotta figure it out," Jets forward Pierre-Luc Dubois said. "I, personally, individually, I don't think it's one guy that has the answer in here. It's everybody together. It's the coaching staff. We all gotta figure it out. You guys see it, we're not playing good hockey right now. But at the same time, we can turn this around and turn it into a positive. We just got to get going. Time's running out."
NOTES: Varlamov's 38th NHL shutout was his 13th with the Islanders through four seasons. … The Islanders won their seventh straight against the Jets dating to March 28, 2019. It is New York's longest active winning streak against one opponent. … Horvat set a NHL career high with 62 points (36 goals, 26 assists). He has five goals in 11 games since being acquired by the Islanders in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 30. … Nelson has 21 points (12 goals, 9 assists) in his past 17 games. His 60 points (27 goals, 33 assists) are an NHL career high. Nelson is the first Islanders player with a 60-point season since Mathew Barzal (19-41-60) in 2019-20. … The Jets were held to one shot in the first period for the first time since they relocated from Atlanta for the 2011-2012 season. Winnipeg's second shot on goal came at 5:15 of the second period.