NEW YORK – Cal Clutterbuck scored twice, Mathew Barzal and Hudson Fasching each had a goal and two assists as the New York Islanders snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-3 win against the Winnipeg Jets.
Sonny Milano, also, recorded his first hat trick in the NHL and Alex Ovechkin scored again and the Washington Capitals ended the Carolina Hurricanes’ winning streak at five with a 7-6 shootout victory that could play a pivotal role in their playoff pursuit.
Mikko Rantanen had two goals and an assist, Nathan MacKinnon extended his home points streak to 33 games with a third-period score and the Colorado Avalanche routed the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-1.
Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee also scored and Semyon Varlamov made 33 saves for the Islanders, who remain outside a wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 12 games left in the regular season.
“It just shows what we are capable of,” Clutterbuck said according to AP. “I think consistency is what we are looking for now.”
Vladislav Namestnikov, Mason Appleton and Cole Perfetti scored for Winnipeg, which has lost two in a row after an impressive win over the Rangers on Tuesday. Connor Hellebuyck gave up five goals on 26 shots before being relieved by Laurent Brossoit halfway through the second period.
Clutterbuck scored twice in the first period to give New York an early 2-0 lead.
Namestnikov pulled the Jets to within a goal as he snuck behind the Islanders defense and deftly danced around Varlamov at 11:20 of the first period.
The Islanders responded with four consecutive goals to take command.
“We were all over them, we kind of smothered them early,” Fasching said. “They couldn´t really make any plays, couldn´t get anything going. We were blocking shots, we were really good in our D zone. We broke the puck out very quickly. Those are big things for us.”
Palmieri finished a cross-ice feed from Nelson at 15:47 to cap off a strong first period. Fasching, Barzal and Lee all scored in the middle frame to stretch the lead to 6-1.
Barzal put the exclamation point on the win when he netted his 22nd of the season for a 5-1 lead. Fasching slid a puck past Hellebuyck and Barzal buried the loose puck at 9:11 of the second period. Brossoit replaced Hellebuyck following the goal,
“We got inside, we got in front of him,” Clutterbuck said of the Islanders ability to solve Hellebuyck. “A lot of our goals were second opportunities, not first opportunities. For the first two periods we did a good job of really getting to the inside and putting pucks there.”
Nikolaj Ehlers fired a sharp-angled shot that created a rebound for Appleton to pounce on at 7:73 of the third period, while Perfetti returned to the Winnipeg lineup after being scratched the previous four games and scored his 15th late in the game.
Cale Makar, Ross Colton and Valeri Nichushkin added goals for the Avalanche, who won their eighth straight game as they surged to the top of the Central Division. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 23 shots for his 36th win of the season.
“A lot of guys are feeling good about their game now. I would say everybody,” said Rantanen, whose team had 51 shots on goal. “So we´re just trying to ride the streak now and keep it going.”
Trailing 1-0, the Avalanche scored six straight goals for their 24th comeback victory.
“I just wish that maybe we start with a goal a little more often than the other team,” Georgiev joked. “We´re confident in our group.”
Damon Severson scored for a Columbus team that has tumbled to last in the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets are 0-1-1 on a five-game trip. Elvis Merzlikins was kept busy all night, making 45 saves.
The Blue Jackets thought they made it a one-goal game in the second period on a wild play where the puck bounced off a Columbus player’s glove, sprang off the top of the net and was batted in by Dmitri Voronkov. But the officials ruled a hand pass and the goal was negated.
