The New York Islanders have had no choice but to rely on the depth of their roster lately, and the support staff did their job in a narrow 2-1 victory over the mighty Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night at UBS Arena.
Without Mathew Barzal, Oliver Wahlstrom, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Cal Clutterbuck in attack, the “Isles” show a different face in February. Facing one of the best teams in the Western Conference, the team from the Big Apple held on for a second consecutive victory.
Simon Holmstrom broke the tie midway through the third period with a high quality shot. Connor Hellebuyck saw nothing but fire, the Swedish striker finding the top right corner of the Jets net. Defender Sebastian Aho also scored.
In goal, Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves to record a 20th win this season. The Russian goalkeeper reached this milestone for the second time, after his 26 victories last year.
Sorokin was only beaten by Nikolaj Ehlers, who was playing his 500th career game. He celebrated that by hitting the target in the second period. His power-play shot was unmistakable, beating the 27-year-old goalie above the right shoulder.
The Dane is the sixth player of the recent version of the Jets to reach this plateau, and the fourth of the current edition. Before him, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry played half a thousand games with this formation. Scheifele was also taking part in a 700th game in the National League.
The Jets will get their chance for revenge as early as Sunday, but this time at home at the Canada Life Centre.