, which is two points ahead of idle Nashville for first place in the Central Division. The third-line duo of Lowry and Tanev sparked Winnipeg to a 2-0 lead. Lowry put the Jets up 1-0 just 13 seconds into the game when Tanev's wraparound led to a rebound and the puck went off Lowry's skate. A review showed no kicking motion. Lowry then netted his 11th goal of the season when he redirected Trouba's shot past Lehner at 6:11 of the first. Barzal ended his scoring drought four minutes later with a quick shot from the slot that beat Hellebuyck on the blocker side to make it 2-1. While a pair of Islanders each had a stick break, Tanev took advantage and scored his first goal in 18 games at 3:46 of the second period. New York soon had a two-man advantage for 1:32. Lee tipped Pulock's blast to cut Winnipeg's lead to 3-2 at 6:06. The Islanders ended the middle period with their fourth power play of the game that carried over into the third, but didn't deliver the equalizer. Winnipeg used its third power play of the game for Scheifele's tip of Trouba's shot at 6:46 of the third, but Eberle scored off a rebound 63 seconds later to make it 4-3. The Jets came up empty on a power play with six minutes remaining, then Hellebuyck made a snapping glove save on Eberle with three minutes to go. UP NEXTIslanders: home vs. Buffalo on Saturday. Jets: finishes a four-game homestand Saturday when they plays their final game of the regular season at Bell MTS Place against Montreal.---More NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Time: 8:00 PM EDT Venue: Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3C 5S5 / There is only one interconference game on the NHL schedule Thursday night, but the playoff races in each conference will surely be impacted when the Winnipeg Jets host the New York Islanders. Both teams head into Thursday looking to regain momentum for the playoff push after absorbing lopsided losses in their most recent games. The Islanders began a two-game road trip in Columbus on Tuesday and were blanked by the Blue Jackets 4-0. The Jets continued their final homestand of the season Monday with a 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars. The loss for the playoff-bound Jets (45-27-4, 94 points) didn't impact their place in the standings, though it did reduce their Central Division lead over the second-place Nashville Predators to two points and the third-place St. Louis Blues to four. The Predators beat the Minnesota Wild 1-0 on Monday while the Blues beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-1." Everybody else won tonight, so we're in a full-on fight here," Jets head coach Paul Maurice told the media Monday night. The fight got a little tougher Tuesday night for the Islanders (44-26-7, 95 points), who are all but assured of making the playoffs -- they will enter Thursday seven points ahead of the ninth-place Blue Jackets -- but are in danger of losing home-ice advantage in the first round -- or falling into a wild card spot. The third-place Islanders enter Thursday three points behind the first-place Washington Capitals in the Metropolitan Division. New York has the same number of points (95) and regulation/overtime wins (40) in the same number of games (77) as the Pittsburgh Penguins, but the Penguins occupy second place by virtue of a better goal differential (plus-33 to plus-24). Should the Islanders lose in regulation and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Capitals on Thursday, the Islanders' lead over the Hurricanes, the first wild card, would fall to just one point. Carolina also has a game in hand on New York. The game Thursday will continue a run of playoff-like intensity for the Islanders, whose previous six opponents were all either in playoff position or battling for a wild-card spot." We're pushing, we're trying to get it," head coach Barry Trotz said of the Islanders, who haven't made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season. "It wasn't like we're not trying. But (the Blue Jackets were) trying to stay in. We're playing teams like that. They're all in. Everybody's all-in." The Jets' Connor Hellebuyck is likely to oppose the Islanders' Robin Lehner Thursday in a battle of No. 1 goaltenders. Hellebuyck took the loss Monday despite making 32 saves against the Stars. Lehner last played Sunday, when he recorded his career-best fifth shutout of the season by stopping all 31 shots he faced as the Islanders beat the visiting Arizona Coyotes 2-0. Hellebuyck is 3-1-0 in four career appearances against the Islanders. Lehner is 3-0-0 in four games against the Jets.--Field Level Media
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