Lee, Horvat lead Islanders to 3-1 win over Oilers

Dec 20, 2023, 03:53 am

NEW YORK -- — Anders Lee and Bo Horvat scored power-play goals and the New York Islanders beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 on Tuesday night.

Simon Holmstrom scored his league-leading fifth short-handed goal and Ilya Sorokin stopped 30 shots as the Islanders snapped a two-game skid.

“It took a little bit of everything from all facets of the game,” Lee said. “All guys in their respective areas stepped up and really did a great job.”

Leon Draisaitl scored for Edmonton and Stuart Skinner made 17 saves in the Oilers' third straight loss.

The Oilers opened the scoring 1:23 into the first period when Draisaitl surprised Sorokin with a shot from the left faceoff circle. It was his 13th of the season.

The Islanders then scored three times in the second period.

“I thought we were resilient,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said.

Lee tied the score at 2:39 as Kyle Palmieri’s shot squeaked through Skinner's pads, and Lee buried the loose puck for his eighth.

Brock Nelson found Horvat in the slot and slid a puck from the side to set up his teammate to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead with 8 1/2 minutes left. It was Horvat's 13th and extended his career-high point streak to 11 games.

"Special teams was such a big part of the game," Horvat said. “It was a really good pass (from Nelson). I honestly didn't think he saw me over there and could get it to me but he fed it through three sticks. Special play by him.”

Holmstrom hammered a one-time pass from Jean-Gabriel Pageau with 5:50 left after Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made an errant pass in the offensive zone to lead to the odd-man rush.

Edmonton had a chance to pull within one goal but failed to execute on a 58-second two-man advantage and only generated one shot attempt on goal following Holmstrom's goal.

The Oilers finished 0 for 4 on the power play.

“There are nights that we go 0 for 4 and we just can't score," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. ”Probably looking back, we will want some plays back and do things a little bit differently. Early on we had some really key opportunities to shoot the puck in which we did and I think they came up with big blocks."

Edmonton captain Connor McDavid was held off the scoresheet, ending his 12-game point streak.

Islanders forward Julien Gauthier left the game early in the second period and did not return.

UP NEXT

Oilers: At New Jersey on Thursday night.

Islanders: At Washington on Wednesday night.

------

AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL