Impending free agents and potential trade targets Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson each scored Tuesday night in what might have been their final game with the New York Islanders, who beat the visiting Winnipeg Jets 3-2 in Elmont, N.Y.
The goals were the 20th of the season for both Palmieri, a member of the Islanders since 2021, and Nelson, who was drafted by the club in 2010 and played his 901st game for the franchise.
Ryan Pulock scored in the third for the Islanders, who are three points behind the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings in the race for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth.
The Islanders don’t play again until they visit the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, one day after the trade deadline.
Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves as New York won for the third time in four games.
Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers scored power play goals for the NHL-leading Jets, who have lost three straight (0-2-1). Goalie Connor Hellebuyck recorded 26 saves.
Palmieri scored on the power play with 3:11 left in the first with an assist from Nelson, who doubled the lead just 93 seconds into the middle period. Nelson struggled to corral Noah Dobson’s clearing pass but managed to dish to Maxim Tsyplakov, who had the puck glance off his skate and his stick before he passed back across the crease to Nelson, who buried his shot in the wide-open right corner of the net.
The Jets snapped their power-play drought at the 8:48 mark, when Morrissey’s shot from the high slot glanced off the Islanders’ Simon Holmstrom and eluded Pulock before it skittered past Sorokin. The power-play goal snapped an 0-for-17 drought for Winnipeg dating back to a 4-3 win over the Islanders on Feb. 7.
Pulock benefited from some puck luck when he extended the Islanders’ lead 4:03 into the third. The defenseman’s shot from just in front of the blue line glanced off the skate of the Jets’ Alex Iafallo and changed direction as it went past Hellebuyck.
–Field Level Media
