WINNIPEG 鈥� Mason Appleton was glad to help get the Winnipeg Jets back on track.
Appleton snapped a 25-game scoring drought and Kyle Connor scored an empty-net goal after a 16-game absence in Winnipeg鈥檚 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
鈥淲hen you go on such a long win streak and then you drop one game, you want to get right back to your winning ways,鈥� Appleton said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 obviously a really good hockey team, a really disciplined team, they won鈥檛 give you much. But we found a way to win tonight and we鈥檙e back on the right track.鈥�
Gabriel Vilardi and Neal Pionk also scored for the Jets (29-10-4), who had an eight-game win streak and 14-game point run halted last Saturday by a 2-0 loss to Philadelphia.
Connor Hellebuyck made 35 saves for Winnipeg in front of 12,600 fans at Canada Life Centre.
Anders Lee scored twice for the Islanders, who were coming off a 5-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday.
鈥淲e had chances throughout the game, I thought,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淕uys were working, guys responded. Obviously it wasn鈥檛 enough to get the job done tonight, but I think it鈥檚 a step in the right direction.鈥�
Ilya Sorokin stopped 40 shots for New York, which is 1-5-0 in its last six matches and 2-5-1 during the month of January.
Winnipeg is still riding a franchise record for consecutive games of allowing three or fewer goals, which is now up to 33. The NHL record in the modern era (since 1967) is 35 by the Minnesota Wild in 2014-15.
The Jets have also only allowed two or fewer goals in a franchise-record 13 straight games.
Winnipeg, which wrapped up a four-game homestand with a 3-1-0 record, received good news the morning of the game when Connor returned to action following a knee-on-knee hit by Ducks forward Ryan Strome in Anaheim on Dec. 10. The winger returned a week earlier than the initial six- to eight-week estimate. He had 19:03 of ice time.
鈥淕ive (Connor) credit, because most guys take two or three games to get their timing and their reads and everything,鈥� Jets coach Rick Bowness said.
鈥淗e just stepped in there tonight like he hadn鈥檛 missed 16 games. That鈥檚 very, very impressive.鈥�
The score was tied 1-1 after the first period and Winnipeg led 3-1 heading into the third.
Josh Morrissey鈥檚 point shot started Winnipeg鈥檚 first scoring sequence. Adam Lowry tipped the puck and then Vilardi deflected it past Sorokin at 9:41.
Lee tied it two seconds after an Islanders鈥� power play expired when he tipped in a Mike Reilly shot at 15:53.
Pionk鈥檚 power-play goal at 15:19 could be blamed on Sorokin鈥檚 equipment, not the goalie鈥檚 effort.
Jets forward Cole Perfetti fired a shot at the net, but the puck hit Sorokin鈥檚 right skate blade and blew the blade off.
Pionk then took a pass from Nate Schmidt and shot it into the open side of the net because Sorokin couldn鈥檛 push over.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever seen a goalie without a skate blade get scored on, so some unlucky bounces, but I thought it was a better response,鈥� Islanders defenceman Scott Mayfield said.
Islanders coach Lane Lambert was asked if there should be some type of rule to stop play if a goalie loses a blade.
鈥淚f he鈥檚 unable to play, I guess there would be certainly an argument for it,鈥� Lambert said. 鈥淟oses his mask or something there is, so it鈥檚 just unfortunate.鈥�
Appleton scored his seventh goal of the season at 17:58 with a shot that went by the post and bounced in off Sorokin鈥檚 pad.
Lee made it 3-2 just 35 seconds into the third when his shot banked in off Hellebuyck.
Connor scored his 18th goal of the season into an empty net with 1:22 remaining.
NOTES
Jets centre Mark Scheifele missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. 鈥� The Islanders are 0-3-3 in the back half of back-to-back games this season. 鈥� New York went into the game winning its past seven matches against Winnipeg.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Finish a four-game road trip Friday in Chicago against the Blackhawks.
Jets: Head out for a three-game road trip starting Saturday against the Ottawa Senators.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2024.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
