Vilardi scores twice, Jets top Islanders for 8th straight win

WINNIPEG -- Gabriel Vilardi scored twice, and the Winnipeg Jets won their eighth straight game, 4-3 against the New York Islanders at Canada Life Centre on Friday.

“You learn your lessons as you play the games,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “You win games. You learn things. There's areas you need to improve. You lose games, you have to move forward. The biggest thing this group has done is put stuff behind us. Whether a win or loss, whether you individually had a great game or bad game… How we respond the next night is what I've always tried to pound away here.”

Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Iafallo also scored, and Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor each had two assists for the Jets (39-14-3), who became the first in the NHL to reach 80 points this season. Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves, including 18 in the third period.

“It’s just the usual from him,” Vilardi said of Hellebuyck, who leads the NHL in wins (34) and shutouts (six). “He’s incredible, always on top of his game. He’s so consistent that it’s really incredible to watch as his teammate on the ice and on the bench. It’s pretty cool to watch day in and day out.”

Hellebuyck will represent the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20.

“Our team defense, that’s kind of what we pride ourselves on," Vilardi said. "When we’re doing that well, we know we have a good chance to win because 'Bucky' is going to make the saves he’s expected to make, and most of the time he’s going to make the saves he’s not expected to make. So as long as we keep the grade A's that the other team is able to have to a limited number, we feel pretty confident that we’re going to win most nights.”

Kyle Palmieri, Simon Holmstrom, and Marc Gatcomb scored for the Islanders (25-22-7), who had won eight of nine (8-1-0). Ilya Sorokin, who had won his previous seven decisions and lost for the first time since Jan. 16, made 23 saves.

“[Hellebuyck] made some big saves,” New York forward Matt Martin said. “He made a nice save on [Casey Cizikas] there on the doorstep and, I mean, he’s the goalie he is for a reason and his record shows that. So I think he's a guy who’s going to give them a chance to win, and no different than than [Sorokin]. I think he gives us a chance to win every night.”

Holmstrom gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 1:05 of the first period when his centering pass on a 3-on-1 rush caught Jets defenseman Neal Pionk’s stick and slid under Hellebuyck.

Iafallo scored to tie it 1-1 on the rush at 4:27. After fighting off a check from center Bo Horvat, Iafallo made a backhand-to-forehand move and lifted it over Sorokin’s glove from in close.

“That was nice too, eh?” Vilardi said. “He kind of used his body and [Horvat] pushed him up the ice, and that was a nice finish too. He’s got low-key good hands. Don’t underrate his hands.”

Gatcomb put the Islanders back in front 2-1 at 12:07 when a loose puck rolled out front and he batted it in on the backhand.

“I thought we played a pretty good game, we were right there,” said Islanders center Brock Nelson, who will represent the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20. “We had a couple of good looks. Hellebuyck made some good good saves… I felt like we had all the momentum.”

Vilardi tied it 2-2 at 4:23 of the second. Connor one-touched the puck to himself, skated from the defensive to the offensive zone, and made a cross-ice pass to Vilardi, who quickly shot it.

Vilardi set a career high with his 23rd and 24th goals of the season, and eclipsed the 50-point mark for the first time in his career.

“It feels good. Just being able to stay healthy, I think that is a big reason why I am able to achieve that right now,” Vilardi said. “And playing with such good players and the success we’ve had as a team is obviously worth looking at as well.”

Ehlers gave Winnipeg a 3-2 lead at 14:50 when a Cole Perfetti backhand pass from behind the net allowed Ehlers to beat an out-of-position Sorokin.

“I made a quick glance and saw [Ehlers] coming,” Perfetti said. “That was a little bit of a ‘hoper,’ I guess — sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. I’m glad it worked. He was in a great spot.”

Vilardi said, “That was nasty. That was a nice play. [Perfetti is] constantly making great plays like that. He’s playing so well for us lately, and that line has been doing really good. You’ve got to keep doing that after the break.”

Scheifele set up Vilardi’s second goal, a one-timer from the slot, that pushed it to 4-2 at 18:18.

“We played really well in the first and the third period,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We were very good, took a 2-1 lead, and I think in the second period we lost a few coverages which caused two of the three goals. But it was a good effort by our guys. I thought it was a hard-fought game. We had our chances at the end, they made a really nice save on [Casey Cizikas] on that one. Sometimes, you know, the game is a question of inches.

"I don't know if it's just (Winnipeg’s) first line. I mean, I think they got four lines that skate well and play well. And they play the right way, so they're really well coached and they do a really good job with that group.”

Palmieri cut it to 4-3 at 11:07 of the third, scoring on the rebound from Alexander Romanov’s point shot.

“They're a good hockey team playing at home,” Martin said. “They were able to get some momentum and we maybe made it a little easy on them as far as as giving pucks away and not being smart coming through the neutral zone and things like that. So when you give a good team like that opportunities they're gonna get them.”

NOTES: The Jets are 30-0-1 this season when leading entering the third period. … Hellebuyck’s 176th career home win tied Mike Richter for the fifth most by an American goaltender. … Connor, who will represent the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off, had his 19th multipoint game of the season. He leads Winnipeg with 69 points (30 goals, 39 assists) in 56 games. … Holmstrom’s goal was the Islanders’ fastest from the start of a game this season. … Entering the game, Sorokin was 9-1-0 in his previous 10 with a 1.66 goals-against average, a .942 save percentage and two shutouts, having allowed just 15 goals over that span.