Chicago beats Islanders 3-2 in Brooklyn opener

(AP) -- Jonathan Toews scored on a power play at 1:49 of overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the New York on Friday night, spoiling the Islanders' debut in Brooklyn. With the

News 12 Staff

Oct 10, 2015, 6:38 AM

Updated 3,482 days ago

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(AP) -- Jonathan Toews scored on a power play at 1:49 of overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the New York on Friday night, spoiling the Islanders' debut in Brooklyn.
With the Blackhawks awarded an extra skater after a slashing penalty on the Islanders' Nick Leddy during the 3-on-3 overtime, Patrick Kane sent the puck toward the middle of the net from the right side and Toews tapped it in while fighting off a defender.
Kane and Artem Anisimov also scored for the Blackhawks and Corey Crawford stopped 34 shots. Crawford improved to 4-0-1 in his career against the Islanders and helped the defending Stanley Cup champions bounce back after losing their season opener at home to the New York Rangers two nights earlier.
John Tavares and Marek Zidlicky scored for the Islanders. Thomas Greiss, starting in place of the injured Jaroslav Halak, finished with 32 saves.
With the Islanders trailing 2-1 after two periods, Zidlicky tied it at 1:18 of the third as he snapped a wrist shot from the left side inside the blue line past Crawford, who was being screened by Mikhail Grabovski. It drew a roaring ovation from the sellout crowd, followed by their usual chants of "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Grabovski had a chance on a 2-on-1 break later in the period, but had his wrist shot stopped by Crawford a little more than 8 minutes in.
The Blackhawks went ahead late in the second. Toews fought off a defender behind the net and backhanded the puck to Kane, who snapped it home from the right side for his first goal of the season with 4:49 remaining in the middle period.
Tavares had tied the score at 5:22 of the second with the Islanders' first goal in Brooklyn. Johnny Boychuk was in the right corner and passed it back to Tavares at the side of the net, and the Islanders' captain skated toward the middle, had his initial shot deflect back to him and he then put the rebound past Crawford.
After the Blackhawks were whistled for having too many men, Anisimov gave them the lead with 6:32 left in the first. After a turnover by Brock Nelson, Anisimov skated down the center of the ice, moved to the right and backhanded the puck past Greiss for a short-handed score.
The Islanders opened their first season at the Barclays Center -- home to the NBA's Brooklyn Nets since 2012 -- after spending their first 43 years at Long Island's Nassau Coliseum.
The players received a rousing ovation when they skated onto the ice, gathered in a circle around the team logo on center ice and raised their sticks.
The Islanders then had a video tribute to honor Al Arbour, their former coach who died in August at the age of 82. Arbour was 740-537-223 in 19 seasons with the Isles. Beginning in 1973-74, he led New York to 15 playoff appearances and won 119 playoff games -- an NHL record with one team -- and four consecutive Stanley Cup titles from 1980-83. The Islanders are wearing a patch that says "AL" on their left shoulders
The Blackhawks had a few chances around the middle of the second period. First, Ryan Garbutt skated in on Greiss' left side and sent a wrist shot that Greiss glove near the midpoint of the period. About 40 seconds later, Artemi Panarin had a slap shot that Greiss knocked away, and then Andrew Desjardins' wrist shot was also stopped by the Islanders' goalie.
NOTES: The Islanders are honoring Arbour by wearing a patch that says 'AL' on the left shoulder of their jerseys. ... In addition to Halak, out with an undisclosed upper body injury, F Steve Bernier and rookie D Ryan Pulock were scratches for the Islanders. ... D David Runblad and RW Kyle Baun sat out for the Blackhawks. .... The Islanders were 3-2-0 in five preseason games at Barclays Center, including 2-1-0 this year. ... Alexa Ray Joel, daughter of Long Island native and music legend Billy Joel and supermodel Christie Brinkley, performed the national anthem before the game. She then played in the arena's Billboard Lounge after the game for premium season-ticket holders. ... Islanders greats Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Bob Nystrom and Billy Smith took part in the ceremonial puck drop.