Holmstrom, Sorokin lead Islanders to 2-1 win vs. Jets
By By: Scott Charles, The Associated Press on February 22, 2023.
NEW YORK (AP) – Simon Holmstrom scored the go-ahead goal in the third period and Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 2-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night. Sebastian Aho also scored for New York, which won for the third time in four games and extended its winning streak against Winnipeg to six games, dating to March 28, 2019. Connor Hellebuyck made 20 saves and Nikolaj Ehlers scored the lone goal for Winnipeg, which completed its four-game road trip (1-3) with a loss. With the game tied at 1, Hellebuyck struggled to pick up the loose puck after Matt Martin’s shot from in close created a rebound. Holmstrom was able to fire a shot to the glove side to give New York the lead at 9:57 of the third period. Bo Horvat made two nifty passes on the sequence, setting up Martin for a chance from in close, and then Holmstrom. Martin also picked up an assist on the play to extend his individual point streak to three games. Kyle Palmieri drew a slashing penalty with 2:31 remaining to prevent the Jets from tying the game in the closing minutes. Ehlers evened the score at 1 with a power-play goal at 4:30 of the second period. The Danish forward wired a wrist shot over the glove of Sorokin from the faceoff circle as he collected his fifth goal of the season in his 22nd game. Josh Morrisssey and Kyle Connor assisted. Winnipeg outshot New York outshot 11-4 in the middle frame, but was unable to take the lead. Aho scored his fifth of the season at 17:35 of the first period to open the scoring. Brock Nelson fired a shot that created a juicy rebound that Aho buried during 4-on-4 action. Winnipeg’s Mason Appleton committed a turnover in the offensive zone, which led to the scoring opportunity for New York. Ross Johnston and Pierre-Luc Dubois each received two-minute matching roughing penalties, which led to wide-open play that the Islanders were able to capitalize on. MILESTONES Mark Scheifele skated in his 700th career game and became the fifth player in franchise history to reach that mark, joining Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Toby Enstrom and Chris Thorburn. … Ehlers skated in his 500th career game and became the third player in Jets team history (since the franchise relocated to Winnipeg in 2011-12) to reach that milestone. UP NEXT Islanders: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night. Jets: Host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night. – AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports 18-17
