All the New York Islanders needed was one to break open the floodgates of Arvid Soderblom and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Three second-period goals — including two in just 43 seconds by Zach Parise and Brock Nelson — lifted the Islanders to a 3-0 victory over Chicago on Sunday night at UBS Arena. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov picked up his first shutout of the season in the process, blanking a Blackhawks team that scored five at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers just one night earlier with 21 saves.
The win breaks a two-game snide in which the Islanders were held to just two goals combined in a scoring slump that carried over nearly the first half hour against the Blackhawks as Soderblom turned away their first 20 shots of the night.
It was a Patrick Kane penalty that ultimately sparked the Islanders back into a game that had been chasing at times. They proceeded to unleash 11 shots — including five on that power play — in quick succession over the first nine minutes of the period while Soderblom appeared to have kept each one out.
But at the 8:58 mark of the second period — and after play was called back minutes later for video review — it was deemed that Matt Martin’s rebound attempt snuck through Soderblom’s right pad and the post to put the Islanders in front.
With 5:29 remaining in the frame, Parise picked up his eighth goal of the season in familiar fashion when he redirected a feed from Adam Pelech through Soderblom’s legs.
The 38-year-old veteran is already more than halfway to his total from all of last season, which was 15 in 82 games. Tuesday night was just his 26th.
The Blackhawks had no time to recover as the Islanders came roaring right back on an odd-man rush that saw Anthony Beauvillier down the left wing send a centering to a bounding Nelson. With one snap of a one-timed wrister, the Islanders had their third of the night and a second in just 43 seconds with 4:46 to go in the second.
Nelson’s 12 goals lead the team this season.
NOTES
- Hudson Fasching made his Islanders debut in place of the injured Cal Clutterbuck. The right-winger last appeared in an NHL game in April 4, 2022, when he was a member of the Arizona Coyotes. He accrued 13 minutes of ice time with two shots on goal.
- Casey Cizikas dropped the gloves with Blackhawks bruiser Reece Johnson 2:21 into Tuesday’s game. The Islanders center likely had to answer for a hit on Chicago goalie Alex Stalock on Nov. 1 that has sidelined the netminder ever since.
