NEW YORK — Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom scored in the third period to help the New York Islanders top the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 late Tuesday.
Ilya Sorokin made 18 saves for the Islanders, who pulled within one point of the Washington Capitals for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
Jason Dickinson scored for the last-place Hawks, who had won three of four. Connor Bedard had an assist, and Petr Mrázek made 27 stops.
The Hawks jumped in front when Bedard found Dickinson darting toward the back post 7 minutes, 49 seconds into the first period. Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson turned the puck over in the offensive zone and Casey Cizikas failed to stick with Dickinson, which created an odd-man rush.
It was Dickinson’s 21st goal, extending his career high. It was Bedard’s team-high 37th assist in his rookie season after the Hawks selected the 18-year-old center with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Horvat tied it at 1 with his team-high 31st goal 1:33 into the third. He buried a feed from Mathew Barzal on the power play.
Holmstrom put the Isles in front at 9:25. He scored his 14th goal when he banged home a loose puck.
It was the Islanders’ first win in 10 attempts in the second half of a back-to-back situation. They beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime Monday.
Islanders forward Matt Martin dropped the gloves with Jarred Tinordi late in the first period after Tinordi delivered a big check on Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
