NEW YORK (AP) — Anders Lee scored two of New York’s four third-period goals, helping the Islanders beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Saturday.
New York improved to 5-2-1 in its last eight games and remained in position for one of two Eastern Conference wild cards. Zach Parise and Noah Dobson also scored, and Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves.
Detroit dropped its fifth straight game. Dylan Larkin scored for the sliding Red Wings, and Magnus Hellberg finished with 31 stops.
New York went ahead to stay when Parise and Lee scored early in the third.
Parise got his 16th of the season at 2:11. Sebastian Aho skated the puck into the offensive zone, and then redirected a shot from Kyle Palmieri before Parise cleaned up the rebound.
Lee made it 2-1 when he deflected Hudson Fasching’s shot past Hellberg at 4:39. It was the 23rd goal on the season for the captain and No. 235 for his career, tying Bobby Nystrom for ninth place on the franchise scoring list.
Dobson added a power-play goal at 15:41 with a booming one-time slap shot, and Lee scored again at 17:21 after a Larkin turnover in the neutral zone.
Larkin opened the scoring on a Detroit power play late in the second period. Defenseman Moritz Seider found Larkin all alone to the side of Sorokin, and the Red Wings captain snapped a shot to the far side.
The 26-year-old Larkin, a Michigan native, finalized an eight-year, $69.6 million contract with Detroit on Wednesday. The Red Wings selected Larkin in the first round of the 2014 NHL draft.
WORTH NOTING
Pierre Engvall made his Islanders debut after he was acquired in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2024 third-round draft pick. Engvall skated with Bo Horvat and Lee on the team’s top line. … Red Wings goalie Villie Husso left practice early on Friday and did not dress. Detroit recalled Alex Nedeljkovic from Grand Rapids of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host Buffalo Sabers on Tuesday.
Red Wings: Visit Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.