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The New York Islanders won both games of their back-to-back at home, beating the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, then the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.
6-0 WIN OVER BLUE JACKETS
Brock Nelson scored the lone goal in the first period, making a nice move to fool Blue Jackets defenders to get in alone on net and put a shot through Joonas Korpisalo. It was in the second period where the Islanders exploded offensively though, first with Josh Bailey getting to the front of the net and sliding a puck five-hole. Then later in the frame, Anders Lee took a pass from Adam Pelech and put a nice shot past Korpisalo, before Jean-Gabriel Pageau capitalized on a one-timer pass from Ryan Pulock, making it a 4-0 game after 40 minutes.
When New York likely could’ve cruised to a win in the third period, they put together their strongest frame yet, outshooting Columbus 12-3. Anders Lee picked up two more goals for a hat trick, as the Islanders took a 6-0 win.
5-2 WIN OVER JETS
The Islanders started really strong, with Brock Nelson opening the scoring once again on an early power play. They outshot Winnipeg 11-6 in the frame but Kyle Connor still managed to tie the game with a few minutes left in the period, after New York gave up a 2-on-0.
The Islanders responded with two quick goals early in the second frame though, from Josh Bailey and Anders Lee. Winnipeg generated some good chances and had control through a large portion of the period, but New York maintained the 3-1 lead through 40 minutes.
Blake Wheeler got the Jets back to within a goal early in the third period, but that’s as close as Winnipeg would come, with a goal from Josh Bailey, followed by an empty netter from Cal Clutterbuck securing a 5-2 Islanders win.
It was a pretty great set of games for the Islanders, with consistency we haven’t seen from them much this season. They kept their opponent under 30 shots in each game and looked really good through most of their wins.
It was also great to see the likes of Josh Bailey and Anders Lee scoring for the Islanders. Both have been underwhelming this year, but the two wingers combining for seven goals over the set of games was a key reason for the success.
The Islanders also managed to go 3-for-7 on their power plays, factoring into the 11 goals between the two games. The win over the Jets also marked Barry Trotz’s 900th career win as an NHL head coach.
While the wins at this point aren’t going to do much, it was a nice reminder as to how good the Islanders can be when they’re on their game. New York will be back in action tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks to wrap up their six-game homestand.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM MARCH
Islanders end road trip with loss to Avalanche
Islanders lose to Canucks in first game of homestand
Islanders hang on for 2-1 win over Blues
Islanders claim Austin Czarnik off waivers from Kraken
Islanders collapse against Avalanche, late comeback falls short 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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