WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Ilya Sorokin will get the bulk of the work in net during the Islanders’ playoff push. But Semyon Varlamov, helped by a tight defensive effort, showed Sunday why he is still a valuable part of the mix.
Varlamov, making his first start in four games and only the third time in the last 10, stopped 23 shots for his second shutout as the Islanders opened a two-game road trip with a 4-0 win over the Jets at Canada Life Centre. They held the Jets to one shot in the first period.
The Islanders (31-25-7) maintained their hold on the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot.
David Rittich made 20 saves for the Jets (35-24-1), who lost to the Islanders, 2-1, on Wednesday night at UBS Arena.
The Islanders played one of their best periods of the season to take a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. It was the first time the Islanders have limited an opponent to one first-period shot since Nov. 10, 2010, in a 1-0 loss in Anaheim.
Defenseman Brenden Dillon was credited with the Jets’ shot on a neutral-zone dump-in at 6:32.
Bo Horvat’s blistering shorthanded wrist shot off the rush from the right circle — his fourth shorthanded goal of the season — made it 1-0 at 7:56. Anders Lee had a potential power-play goal at 1:30 of the period waved off when it was ruled his stick was too high when he deflected defenseman Noah Dobson’s blue-line shot.
The Jets held a 14-8 shot advantage in the second period, but the Islanders still expanded their lead to 3-0.
Defenseman Alexander Romanov picked the far upper corner from the left point to make it 2-0 at 4:22. Brock Nelson, who has points in 16 of his last 17 games, pulled the puck around Kyle Connor to get to the middle of the ice and beat Rittich with a wrist shot for a 3-0 edge at 18:41 of the second.
Defenseman Adam Pelech banked in a rink-length empty-net goal to make it 4-0 at 17:59 of the third. Rittich was pulled for an extra skater at 15:18.
Josh Bailey returned to the Islanders’ lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury.
