Islanders ride Barzal's hat trick past Jets
NEW YORK -- Mathew Barzal collected his first NHL hat trick Saturday afternoon as the New York Islanders cruised to a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets at Barclays Center.
Barzal (20 years, 211 days) scored twice in the first and once in the third to become the youngest Islanders player to record a hat trick since John Tavares did so at 20 years and 117 days on Jan. 15, 2011.
Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Islanders (19-13-4), who won for just the third time in 10 games (3-5-2) to ensure they would enter the holiday break with one of the Eastern Conference wild card spots.
Goalie Jaroslav Halak recorded 38 saves.
Tucker Poolman and Adam Lowry scored for the Jets (20-11-7), who ended a four-game road trip with three straight losses (0-2-1). Goalie Steve Mason made 24 saves.
The Islanders, who trailed 2-0 in four of their previous five games, jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the first period thanks to goals by Lee and Barzal. Poolman's first career goal pulled the Jets within 2-1 with 6:18 left, when his shot from the blue line into traffic appeared to glance off Islanders center Casey Cizikas and past Halak.
An impressive individual effort by Barzal led to his second goal with 35.7 seconds remaining in the period. Barzal twice shook Bryan Little near the left faceoff circle, descended upon Mason and managed to tuck the puck between his legs and into the net.
Following a scoreless second, Barzal and Beauvillier put the game away by scoring less than four minutes apart late in the third.
Barzal completed his hat trick with 8:38 remaining, when he took a Jordan Eberle pass from behind the net and fired a shot past Mason. A turnover deep in the Jets zone led to an exchange of the puck between Tavares and Beauvillier, who beat Mason from point-blank range with 4:59 left.
Lowry scored with 1:36 left.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched RW Steve Bernier, C Alan Quine and D Dennis Seidenberg. ... Islanders head coach Doug Weight said D Calvin de Haan, who suffered a shoulder injury Dec. 16, is out indefinitely. Weight said it was not yet certain if de Haan would undergo surgery. ... The Jets scratched C Marko Dano, C Shawn Matthias and D Julian Melchiori. ... While the current incarnation of the Jets has never been alone in first place at the Christmas break, the Atlanta Thrashers twice reached the break atop the Southeast Division (2003-04, 2006-07) before the franchise relocated following the 2010-11 season.