Islanders Win 4-1 in Return From COVID Break

For 11 days, the New York Islanders season was on pause due to COVID and the outbreak going around the NHL. Well, in their return to play, they looked very good tonight and it all started with a dominant Mat Barzal period.

Barzal was phenomenal in the first period with five of the Islanders nine shots. One of those nine ended up in the back of the net to give the Isles a 1-0 lead.

What a wicked shot from Barzy to give the Isles a lead. Unfortunately, that lead wouldn't last for the period as Matt Martin would take a penalty that ended up leading to a power play goal from familiar face, Kyle Okposo. Still, it was a solid first frame for New York.

In the second, Kieffer Bellows netted his third of the season on a beautiful shot to put the Isles back in front 2-1. Bellows has been playing much better hockey and it didn't stop there. He would assist Anders Lee on the power play just a few minutes later as the Isles extended their lead to 3-1.

In the third period, the Islanders started with their typical third period with the lead mentality. They didn't allow very many high danger chances the other way. What we did see though was a continuation of Noah Dobson's dominance.

He scored at 11:43 into the period for his second point on the night. He was on the ice for all four of the Islanders goals and on top of that, he has eight points in his last nine games and is on pace for a 38 point season.

As for Semyon Varlamov he was steady in net for the Islanders. He only allowed that one power play goal early in the game and settled in nicely after that finishing a .971 save percentage on 33 saves.

The Islanders play next on New Years Day as they take on the Edmonton Oilers. We'll have you covered for that one as well here on the site and social media as always.