New York Islanders at Winnipeg Jets

Gabriel Vilardi scores a pair of goals and Jets win their 8th straight, 4-3 over Islanders

Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Iafallo also scored for Winnipeg while Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele had a pair of assists each. Connor Hellebuyck made 32 saves.

Kyle Palmieri, Marc Gatcomb and Simon Holmstrom scored for the Islanders while Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 shots.

Vilardi tied the game 2-2 with his first goal 4:23 into the second period. He scored his second goal with 2:42 left in the second to make it 4-2 for Winnipeg.

Holmstrom opened the scoring just 1:05 into the game.

Takeaways Jets: After a sloppy first period, their offense came to life, outscoring New York 3-1 to take a 4-2 lead.

Islanders: Came on like gangbusters in the third period, pulling to within a goal with about eight minutes left, leaving the Jets just hanging on.

Key moment Vilardi scored late in the second to give Winnipeg some breathing room with a 4-2 lead. It was Vilardi’s career-best 24th goal of the season.

Key stat Hellebuyck stopped eight shots, many of them outstanding, during a third-period power play and the Jets leading by just one goal.

Up next The Jets will not play their next game until Feb. 22 when they visit St. Louis.

The Islanders face the Wild in Minnesota on Saturday night.

WPG leads series 1-0