Stefen Rosner On The Islanders Backing Lou In Vegas For the first time this season, the New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/] won three straight games, sweeping their road trip with a 2-1 victory over the Utah Hockey Club. Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist, while Marcus Hogberg, who started with Ilya Sorokin sick, turned aside 21 of 22 shots for his first win as an Islander. Here's how the game unfolded. The Islanders put forth a strong first period, carrying over thier play from Las Vegas. They outshot Utah 15-5 and had a handful of scoring chances, but Connor Ingram was strong. The structure was good, especially in the defensive zone, as all five shots came from the perimeter. The Islanders did allow a Clayton Keller breakaway chance about midway through the first, but Adam Pelech got back, sliding to get a piece of the shot. Ryan Pulock took a wrist shot on the left wrist but was able to return a few minutes later. The Islanders, who went 0-for-1 in the first period on the power play, had 39 seconds of power-play time carry over into the second. Just 34 seconds after the Islanders power play expired, Nick Schmaltz deflected a Michael Kesselring point shot past Hogberg to give Utah a 1-0 lead at 1:13 of the second: The Islanders rediscovered their game a few minutes later, with plenty of chances. Mathew Barzal's line continued to provide quality scoring chances, but time after time, Ingram said no. Clayton Keller sent a missle off the iron with just under nine minutes to play in the second off a feed from Mikhail Sergachev. The Islanders were outshot 10-5 in the second: At 3:36 of the third period, Brock Nelson buried a no-look feed off the stick of Anders Lee after No. 29 was left unguarded: Nelson now has goals in back-to-back games after going 17 games without one. Mathew Barzal earned the secondary assist to extend his point streak to five games (five assists). The Islanders had a chance to take a lead on their third power play of the game, but they couldn't beat Ingram despite some solid passing. They haven't scored on the power play in 23 straight chances. After Anders Lee took a goaltender interference penalty at 13:32 of the third, the penalty kill came up large to remain perfect on the night. With 1:25 to play in the third, Mathew Barzal scored on a scramble play to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead for the 2-1 final: UP NEXT: The Islanders seven-game homestand begins on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM ET against the Ottawa Senators.
