CHICAGO — It was a game Casey Cizikas would have appreciated, had he been around to see it. A prototypical Islanders’ performance of shutdown defense skating five-on-five in a tightly-contested match.
The Islanders extended their winning streak to four as they opened a three-game road trip with a 3-1 win over Chicago on Tuesday night at United Center, going 4 for 5 on the penalty kill. That included killing off defenseman Adam Pelech’s delay of game penalty at 15:48 of the third period.
But Cizikas, one of the Islanders’ top penalty killers, exited early in the first period on a game misconduct after injuring Chicago goalie Alex Stalock.
Ilya Sorokin only had to make 21 saves for the Islanders (6-4-0), including just seven in the third period, for his third straight win.
Sorokin shut out the visiting Rangers, 3-0, this past Wednesday and entered his latest start having stopped 74 of the last 76 shots he had faced. His shutout bid was ended when Jonathan Toews redirected defenseman Caleb Jones’ shot for a power-play goal at 10:19 of the third period to bring Chicago within 2-1. It was just the second power-play goal the Islanders have yielded this season.
Still, Chicago (4-4-2), with top defenseman Seth Jones out three to four weeks with an injured right thumb, had its losing streak extended to four games.
Though they only were together for two shifts, Cizikas’ identity line had Ross Johnston on left wing instead of Matt Martin has Martin remained on Long Island with his wife, Sydney, as the couple welcomed their second child.
Coach Lane Lambert said Martin was expected to rejoin the Islanders on this trip, which also includes games in St. Louis on Thursday night and in Detroit on Saturday afternoon.
But it didn’t take long for the Islanders to play shorthanded against Chicago.
Cizikas barreled into Stalock at 2:56 of the first period, with his shoulder appearing to make contact with the goalie’s head. The shaken-up Stalock remained on his stomach for a couple of minutes before he was escorted off the ice and to Chicago’s dressing room, replaced by 23-year-old Arvid Soderblom making his fifth NHL appearance.
Soderblom, though, was sharp, stopping eight of the nine shots he faced in the first period, denying Kyle Palmieri at the crease on a redirection at 5:32 of the second period and Anthony Beauvillier from point-blank range in the opening minute of the third period. He finished with 28 saves.
Chicago already has goalie Petr Mrazek on injured reserve with a groin injury.
Cizikas was initially assessed a five-minute major for goalie interference. Upon review, a match penalty was added with Cizikas ejected and, quite possibly, subject to supplemental discipline from the NHL.
The Islanders killed off Chicago’s five-minute power play, which generated three shots.
The Islanders then finished the first period with their own three straight power plays, including Andreas Athanasiou’s goalie interference call on Sorokin that certainly seemed to be a little bit of payback.
They finally took a 1-0 lead at 17:35 with both Brock Nelson and Anders Lee getting to the crease and Lee pushing the puck into the net for his fifth goal of the season and his third on the power play.
Nelson got his fourth goal in three games — all coming in the third period — as he snapped a shot past Soderblom’s short side from the right circle at 7:23. The Islanders had withstood a sustained Chicago push earlier in the sequence, with Palmieri defending without a stick.
Johnston got the assist on Nelson’s goal for his first point of the season.
Zach Parise added an empty-net goal with 13.1 seconds left.
