- Associated Press - Saturday, January 20, 2024

CHICAGO — When it was over, right after his shot ended the game, Seth Jones celebrated with a small grin.

“I was in shock. I was like ’Wow, one actually went in,” the defenseman said.

Jones scored his first goal of the season 22 seconds into overtime, lifting the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the struggling New York Islanders on Friday night.

Jason Dickinson had a goal and two assists for last-place Chicago, which had dropped four of five. Joey Anderson and Boris Katchouk also scored, and Petr Mrazek made 26 saves.

Jones’ wrist shot from the high slot beat Ilya Sorokin on the goaltender’s stick side.

“It was suiting for him to get that goal at the end because of the way he played defensively,” Chicago coach Luke Richardson said.


PHOTOS: Seth Jones scores in overtime as the Blackhawks beat the struggling Islanders 4-3


“That’s a complete game, so that was great to have him and hopefully that just propels him into playing like that more.”

Kyle Palmieri had a goal and an assist for New York, which earned one point on a four-game trip. Brock Nelson and Bo Horvat also scored, and Ilya Sorokin had 20 stops.

The Islanders dropped to 2-6-2 in their last 10 games.

“I don’t feel the team is anywhere near where it can be or should be,” New York coach Lane Lambert said. “We have some players on the team that we clearly need more from.”

Chicago opened a 3-1 lead when Anderson made a perfect pass to a streaking Dickinson, who tapped it in for his 15th goal 5:10 into the third period. It was Dickinson’s first goal since his new two-year contract was announced by the team on Tuesday.

But the Islanders rallied on goals by Palmieri and Horvat. Palmieri tied it at 3 with his 11th on the season, a wrapround with 7:10 left in regulation.

“I just think it wasn’t good enough,” Horvat said. “At the end of the day it wasn’t a very good trip for us.”

The Blackhawks played without defenseman Connor Murphy and forward Ryan Donato. Murphy missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury, and Donato is recovering from an illness that also sidelined him for Thursday night’s 3-0 loss at Buffalo.

Chicago had a scoreless streak of more than 152 minutes before Katchouk got his fifth of the season 18:07 into the second period, tying it at 1. Katchouk was denied on a breakaway on a poke check by Sorokin, but he retrieved the puck, skated around and scored on a wrist shot from the high slot.

Anderson then finished a 2-on-1 with Colin Blackwell at 19:14, giving Chicago a 2-1 lead. Anderson shot it over a sliding Sorokin for his first goal since April 10 against Minnesota.

“We needed a game like this,” Anderson said. “It was great. The compete level was there the whole night.”

New York had jumped in front on Nelson’s 20th goal 6:09 into the first period. He scored on the Islanders’ first shot of the game, beating Mrazek low on the goaltender’s glove side.

The 32-year-old Nelson has eight seasons with at least 20 goals - all with New York.

Islanders forward Kyle MacLean made his NHL debut after he was recalled from the minors on Wednesday. MacLean’s father, John, is an assistant coach with the Isles and a former NHL forward.

UP NEXT

Islanders: Host the Dallas Stars on Sunday night.

Blackhawks: At Vancouver on Monday night for the opener of a four-game trip.

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