Islanders' potential trade chips help them cruise past Predators
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Maybe the Islanders should consider more day games.

In the lone afternoon game at home this season, the team came out strong, defeating the Predators 7-4. It was their second consecutive win, which included an empty-net goal by Ilya Sorokin as the trade deadline approached.

As speculation surrounded Lou Lamoriello’s potential decisions at the trade deadline, key players on the team showcased their value. Brock Nelson netted two goals, while Kyle Palmieri and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each contributed one.

The Islanders may have benefitted from the Predators’ struggles, as they were missing Gustav Nyquist due to trade discussions (he was later traded to the Wild) and their top defenseman Roman Josi was placed on injured reserve.

Those inconvenient caveats aside, this was as good a start as the Islanders have put together all year. All four lines played north, attacked the crease and forechecked.

Hudson Fasching, who rejoined the lineup two nights prior in Boston and played Saturday on the third line while Max Tsyplakov sat as a healthy scratch, proved just what Casey Cizikas and Pageau needed to come alive as the trio put together shift after shift in the offensive zone, scoring twice.

It took just 2:37 of play for Cizikas to feed Pageau from behind the net for a 1-0 lead, kick-starting a dominant first in which the Isles outshot their opposition 19-3.

Fasching later picked up an assist to Cizikas on a goal early in the third.

The Isles put up a rare three-spot in the first 20 minutes, including a power-play goal from Palmieri that snapped a six-game scoreless streak on the man advantage dating back to the start of February. Bo Horvat netted the third goal with just under 30 seconds left in the period, cleaning up the garbage on Anders Lee’s rebound.

Nelson came alive in the second, scoring a pair of goals — one of them coming shorthanded — to keep Nashville at arm’s length as Colton Sissons scored and picked up an assist.



It was career game No. 899 for Nelson, all of which have come in an Islander uniform, and if the team chooses to trade him, it will be one of his last at home.

Should that be the case, this was a good reminder of what he’s given the Islanders since debuting in 2013, as Nelson finished off Simon Holmström’s shorthanded feed before scoring his second after corralling Alexander Romanov’s diagonal pass to the lower right circle.

The Predators got within one in the game’s final minute on Cole Smith’s power play goal, but never looked like a threat to win before Sorokin’s empty-netter.

While the club’s assets getting a boost is one way to view this, another is that the Islanders, by winning, are giving Lamoriello a reason to think about holding on for a playoff push.

The Rangers, who are ahead of the Isles in the standings, dealt Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey on Saturday to signal they will prioritize the future instead of going all-out for a wild-card spot, but that is not how Lamoriello has viewed things in the past.

If he still thinks the Islanders have a shot on March 7, the Islanders could be in for another trade deadline of standing by the group they have.

Saturday may have inched them a little closer to that outcome.

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