Ladd’s 2 goals lift Jets over Islanders 4-3

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) -- Andrew Ladd scored his second goal of the night 3:31 into the third period, and the Winnipeg Jets rallied to beat the New York Islanders 4-3 in a back-and-forth encounter on Tuesday night.

Ladd put a rebound of Bryan Little's shot into the open right side to put the Jets back in front.

After trailing early, the Jets scored three times in the second period - two during a long power play after Nikolay Kulemin was ejected for boarding Mark Stuart - but couldn't hold a two-goal lead.

John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski got the Islanders even at 3 in the second, and Brock Nelson staked New York to a 1-0 lead in the first. Jaroslav Halak stopped 26 shots.

Defensemen Paul Postma and Jacob Trouba also scored, and Little had three assists for the Jets, who began a four-game trip. Ondrej Pavelec made 18 saves.

The pace, the hitting, and the scoring all picked up in a roller-coaster second period following a sluggish first.

The tone was set 24 seconds in when Kulemin slammed Stuart into the boards in front of the penalty boxes. Stuart laid on his stomach for several moments before getting up on all fours after being attended to by a trainer, and then skated off.

Stuart returned soon after, but Kulemin's night ended with a major penalty for boarding. The Jets used the extended power play to tie the game and take the lead as Ladd and Postma scored 2:52 apart during the advantage that generated six shots.

Ladd made it 1-1 at 1:14 when he got to a rebound of Toby Enstrom's shot and punched it past Halak for his third goal. Postma pushed Winnipeg in front with an unassisted goal. He banged the puck off the end boards, got the carom at the left post and jammed it in for his first of the season. Of the defenseman's six career NHL goals, three have been scored against the Islanders.

Winnipeg didn't stop there and widened its lead to 3-1 when the teams played 4-on-4. Trouba took a pass from Stuart in the neutral zone, carried the puck into the New York end and snapped a wrist shot from the high slot that ticked off Halak's glove and carried into the net.

The Islanders made the most of a minor boarding penalty by Mark Scheifele on Thomas Hickey when Tavares scored a power-play goal with 5:32 left in the second to make it 3-2. Grabovski tied it 1:24 later when he finished off a drive down the right-side boards with his third goal.

New York drew a hooking penalty on Blake Wheeler just 1:02 in and then capitalizing on the power play 14 seconds later when Nelson netted his fifth goal.

Defenseman Johnny Boychuk rocketed a shot from the left circle off the left post, and the carom came right to Nelson, who easily steered it into the net.

New York had the better of the play throughout the period, putting constant pressure on the Winnipeg defense and holding a 9-7 shots edge.

Winnipeg was called for four penalties in the first, including a retaliatory cross-check by Dustin Byfuglien against Cal Clutterbuck, who had been called for tripping.

NOTES: Jets D Zach Bogosian (upper body) sat out and was replaced by D Adam Pardy. LW Evander Kane (knee) is with the team but isn't expected to play for at least one week. ... Islanders D Travis Hamonic (upper body) missed his third straight game.

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