NY Islanders Star of the Week: Brock Nelson continues to heat up

New York Islanders v New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders v New Jersey Devils / Bruce Bennett/GettyImages

Throughout the week of Dec. 4, the NY Islanders played four games. The team would split the week with two wins and two losses, winning every other game that they played. One thing remained constant, Brock Nelson provided for his team in a big way.

The Islanders' first game of the week came on Sunday, Dec. 4, when they welcomed the Chicago Blackhawks to UBS Arena. Nelson would first make his presence felt in this game when he scored with just under five minutes left in the second period to extend the Islanders' lead to 3-0.

Thanks to an assist by Anthony Beauvillier, and Anders Lee, Nelson would score the third, and final, goal of this game. Semyon Varlamov would be a brick wall in the net and play an important role in the shutout. This was Varlamov's 37th career shutout, his fourth against the Blackhawks, his 12th as an Islander, and his first of the new campaign.

"The Nelson goal was a good 200-foot goal," Lambert said. "He was solid and responsible in his own end, and we made some good wall plays and came up the ice and Beauvillier came across. We emphasize, and everybody does, the shift after a goal and we've done a good job of that."
Coach Lambert on Brock Nelson's goal

On Tuesday, Dec. 6, the Islanders welcomed the St. Louis Blues to the UBS Arena for the second game of the week. Nelson continued to show up and make plays for the Islanders' offense. He was able to find Hudson Fasching with about five minutes remaining in the third for Fasching's first career goal. This put the Islanders within two goals of the Blues making the score five to three, but unfortunately, the Islanders would fall to the Blues, seven to four.

Arguably Nelson's best game of the week would come on Friday when the Islanders traveled to New Jersey to take on the red-hot New Jersey Devils. With under five minutes left in the first period, Alexander Romanov was able to find Nelson for Nelson's first goal of the game. However, Nelson wasn't done there.

Nelson would also score later on in the second period on a powerplay to increase the Islanders' lead to five to two. Thanks to an assist by JG Pageau, and Mat Barzal, Nelson was able to all but wrap the game up for the Islanders late in the second period. The Islanders would go on to defeat the Devils and pick up a massive win in New Jersey.

The final game of the week wasn't a fun one as the Islanders would come back home to welcome the Carolina Hurricanes to the UBS Arena. This game was about as ugly as it got as the Islanders would fall, three to zero, and not be able to pick up a goal in the process.

This may not have been one of the best weeks for the Islanders, but one thing remained constant, Brock Nelson is still a main part of this team's offense. In his 29 games played this year, Nelson is already at 28 points off of 14 goals, and 14 assists. Nelson was the star of the week, as he finished the week with three goals, and one assist and proved to be someone the Islanders could continue to count on.