WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ A dominant offensive player and a hot goalie go a long way in hockey.
Long enough for the Islanders to win a game that was, at least through the first 30 minutes, played looser defensively than the final score indicated.
Mathew Barzal, his lip swelled after an uncalled high-stick from Adam Lowry, scored twice and Semyon Varlamov made 32 saves in his best performance as an Islander in Thursday night's 3-1 win over the Jets at Bell MTS Place to open a two-game road trip.
The Islanders (4-3-0), who earned their second regulation victory this season, have won three in a row.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 23 shots for the Jets (4-5-0), who have lost three straight. That included robbing Oliver Wahlstrom, the 11th overall pick in 2018 playing in his second NHL game, his first career goal as he robbed the rookie at the crease at 10:02 of the second period off a good feed from Josh Bailey.
Bailey added an empty-net goal with 27.0 seconds left to clinch the win.
Coach Barry Trotz continued his goalie rotation as neither Varlamov nor Thomas Greiss has started two in a row.
The Islanders had one of their most important wins of last season when they rallied for a 5-4 victory at Winnipeg on March 28 with three third-period goals. Casey Cizikas and Jordan Eberle _ both out of Thursday's lineup because of lower-body injuries _ scored within 33 seconds late in the period back then.
The Islanders were then dominant in a 4-1 win over the Jets at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum on Oct. 6.
This game was vastly different.
Even protecting a one-goal lead in the third period, the Islanders continued to yield odd-man rushes as they traded chances with the Jets. Varlamov was at his best denying Mark Scheifele from the low slot at 4:05. He also gobbled up Patrik Laine's blast at 18:40 of the third period and the Jets skating six-on-five with Hellebuyck pulled.
The Islanders took over in their early-season victory over the Jets in the second period, stretching out the Jets' defense and finding gaps with head-man passes.
Both teams expected a much tighter game on Thursday, with Jets coach Paul Maurice paying the Islanders the compliment of saying they play a "heavy" game like a Western Conference team.
And that's what it settled into during Thursday's second period, with the Islanders' tying the game at 1 at 7:41 on Barzal's power-play one-timer from the left circle off Bailey's feed. It was the Islanders' first shot of the period.
Barzal made it 2-1 with 17.0 seconds to go in the second as he kept the puck on a two-on-one rush that was started with Johnny Boychuk _ the Islanders' best defenseman throughout the game _ swatting the puck out of the air to break up at Jets' rush at the Islanders' blue line.
The Islanders allowed the first goal for the fourth straight game as they were thoroughly outplayed in the first period, fortunate to trail only 1-0 thanks solely to Varlamov.
Varlamov stopped 15 shots over the first 20 minutes and kept the deficit to one after rookie defenseman Ville Heinola _ in the lineup with Island Park's Anthony Bitetto missing his first game with a lower-body injury _ was allowed to skate untouched from the left point into the circle and snap off a wrist shot that was gloved at 17:29.
Varlamov smothered Mathieu Perreault's power-play one-timer from the slot but Derick Brassard lost the ensuing faceoff to Jack Roslovic and Nikolaj Ehlers made it 1-0 on the man advantage at 13:12 by getting free at the top of the left circle and wristing a shot over Varlamov's glove.
