Bailey, Nelson lead Islanders to dominant win over Jets

Josh Bailey scored twice and Brock Nelson added a goal and an assist as the New York Islanders beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 Friday night.

New York's Barry Trotz became the third coach in NHL history reach 900 wins, joining Scotty Bowman and Joel Quenneville.

"That's Hall of Fame career for a Hall of Fame person," Bailey said of Trotz's milestone. "It's a big, big accomplishment and we're happy for him no question."

Despite the win, the Islanders are 18 points behind Washington for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

"Everything's obviously better and feels right when you're winning," Nelson said. "Nobody is content or happy with where we're at. You can look back and reflect but it's not going to change anything. You just have to move forward and try to string some together and see what happens."

WATCH l Bailey scores twice as Islanders take down Jets:

A pair of goals by Josh Bailey leads Islanders past Jets

3 years ago

Duration 1:21

Islanders defeated Jets Friday night as Josh Bailey scored twice leading New York to a 5-2 win.

Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler each scored for Winnipeg, which lost for the third time in five games (2-2-1). Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves in his league leading 49th start.

Bailey, who had a goal and an assist Thursday night in a 6-0 win over Columbus, scored his second of the game and restored a two-goal advantage for New York at 7:14 of the third period. He controlled a rebound from Adam Pelech's slap shot and deposited a backhand into the back of the net to give the Islanders a 4-2 lead.

"He deserved to get the two goals," Trotz said of Bailey. "His mind is in the right spot. He's shooting the puck, he's moving his feet and he's got that little edge right now.

Wheeler had cut the Jets' deficit to 3-2 with his eighth of the season 20 seconds into the third. The puck took a funky bounce and deflected off Islanders defenceman Scott Mayfield before fluttering across the goal line.

The Islanders took a 3-1 lead after scoring twice in 40 seconds early in the second.

"Obviously very frustrating starting the second period like that," Ehlers said. "We were watching the puck, it's as simple as that."

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What Canadian NHL teams might do ahead of the trade deadline

3 years ago

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Bailey buried his own rebound and scored for the second straight game at 1:09.

Moments later, Beauviller made a no-look backhand to Nelson in the slot and Lee gathered the rebound before roofing a shot at 1:49. The Islanders' captain picked up his 20th goal of the season and sixth in the three games.

"If you look at the goals we gave up, we gave up a couple of rebound goals," Jets coach Dave Lowry said. "We have to defend harder. It goes to puck management and it goes to details."

Nelson kicked off the scoring with a one-time blast on the power play as he recorded his 23rd of the season and his fourth goal in as many games at 6:38 of the first. Beauvillier set up his teammate with a cross-ice pass. Noah Dobson also assisted on the goal and extended his point streak to five games. The 22-year-old defenceman has one goal and five power-play assists during this career-high stretch.

Beauvillier, who had three assists Thursday night, had multiple assists in consecutive games for the first time in his career.

Connor tied it 1-1 with 3:02 left in the first when he and Nikolaj Ehlers converted a 2-on-none opportunity. Islanders defencemen Pelech and Ryan Pulock both got caught in the offensive zone which led to an equalizer.