April 20, 2013 - 3:23 PM
WINNIPEG - John Tavares scored the shootout winner Saturday as the New York Islanders defeated Winnipeg 5-4 to put a dent in the Jets' playoff drive.
Tavares and Brad Boyes both beat Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec in the shootout, while Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd replied against New York's Evgeni Nabokov.
The win lifted the Islanders to 24-16-5, giving them 53 points to tie Toronto for fifth spot in the East Conference.
However, the Islanders will have to wait to see how Toronto does when it visits Ottawa (52 points) on Saturday night.
The Jets (23-19-3) have 49 points and are now a point back of the idle eighth-place New York Rangers.
Nabokov made 24 saves in the win, while Pavelec faced 33 shots as the two clubs gave the sold-out crowd plenty of nail-biting action.
Bryan Little tied the game for Winnipeg 4-4 at 17:59 of the third period, just seven seconds after Isles defenceman Lubomir Visnovsky was called for interference.
Little made a head's up move on the play. A rebound sent the puck at Little's left skate and he kicked it over to his stick before beating Nabokov.
Michael Grabner had given the Islanders the 4-3 lead at 9:13 of the third period after Andrew McDonald sent him a pass from the corner. Grabner stood at the edge of the crease and redirected the puck by Pavelec.
The Islanders got a goal and assist from both Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey, while Matt Martin also scored. Kyle Okposo and Visnovsky each added a pair of assists.
Kyle Wellwood scored a pair of goals for Winnipeg and Zach Bogosian added the other.
The Islanders led 2-1 after the first period and it was tied 3-3 heading into the third.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013