Islanders 8, Red Wings 2

The Islanders vowed to play with purpose following a rough road loss the crosstown Rangers. They did exactly that against the lowly Detroit Red Wings.

Brock Nelson scored twice, and six other Islanders connected as New York routed the hapless Red Wings.

New York scored three times in the first eight minutes, a rousing response after a 6-2 loss to the Rangers a night earlier.

“We came out and after the first couple of minutes, I knew we would be in good shape. We jumped on them early,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said.

The league-worst Red Wings were out of it early, and Thomas Greiss made 34 saves to back the Islanders. New York improved to 5-1-1 in the second half of back-to-back games.

“After any loss, the next game is really important and it’s important you get back on track,’’ said Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock, who had two assists. “And it helps having that back-to-back so you don’t have too long to think about it.”

Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey and Nelson chased Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard with their three quick goals early. Calvin Pickard relieved and stopped 14 of 19 shots.

Filip Hronek scored for Detroit 11:45 into the first, but Anders Lee put the Islanders ahead 4-1 later in the period. Eberle assisted on Lee’s goal for his 500th career point.

Nelson scored his 18th of the season early in the second period on a breakaway, and Noah Dobson followed with his first career goal 41 seconds later. The 20-year-old Dobson was a first-round pick in 2018 and playing his 18th game.

“It’s definitely a cool feeling that I will always remember,’’ Dobson said.

Anthony Beauvillier and Leo Komarov scored in the third to round out New York’s eight-spot.

Detroit’s Givani Smith scored his first career goal to make it 8-2.

The Islanders had scored two or fewer goals in five of their last six games before this season-best outburst. They were 4-5-2 in their previous 11 games to fall from second to third in the Metropolitan Division behind the surging Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Red Wings are 3-10-0 in their last 13 games and 5-20-0 in their last 25. They are last in the league with 27 points.

“We have to be way better than that,’’ Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “We left Jimmy hanging and in the end it didn’t work. We weren’t good enough in front of him to start the game.”

The Islanders have a rematch with the Rangers on Thursday night at Nassau Coliseum, the first time in nearly five years the rivals will meet on Long Island. The Islanders moved to Brooklyn following the 2014-15 season but are now splitting time between Barclays Center and Nassau Coliseum while a new arena is being constructed on the grounds of Belmont Park. Their new home is slated to be ready for the 2021-22 season.

Trotz applauded his team’s effort and quickly turned the page to the looming New York-New York rematch.

“We’ve to show what we are,’’ he said. “We have another level in our game we should hopefully bring it on Thursday.”

Penguins 7, Sabres 3

Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists in his first game back from abdominal surgery and Pittsburgh rolled past Minnesota.

Crosby needed less than eight minutes to pick up his first point since before Halloween, assisting on Evgeni Malkin's first goal of the night 7:57 in. Crosby added his sixth goal of the season in the third period when he slipped a backhand past Devan Dubnyk as the Penguins rolled to their fourth straight victory.

Malkin finished with two goals and a pretty no-look drop pass to set up Bryan Rust's 19th of the season. Jared McCann scored for the fourth time in five games for Pittsburgh, Dominik Simon added his fifth, and Tristan Jarry stopped 25 shots to improve to 11-0-1 in his last 12 starts against Western Conference opponents.

Crosby skated 17:53 after missing 28 games following abdominal surgery and looked just as dangerous as ever as the Penguins pulled within four points of first-place Washington in the Metropolitan Division.

Zach Parise scored twice, and Marcus Foligno added his ninth for the Wild, who spotted the Penguins a four-goal lead. Dubnyk finished with 22 saves, and the Wild fell to 1-5-1 in their last seven games.

Sabres 4, Golden Knights 2

Jack Eichel scored the go-ahead goal on an end-to-end rush 7:57 into the third period in Buffalo's win over slumping Vegas.

The goal was Eichel's career-high-matching 28th of the season and came in a game in which he added an assist to become Buffalo's first player in 27 years to reach the 60-point mark in 46 or fewer games. Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists, and Kyle Okposo and Curtis Lazar, with an empty-netter, also scored.

Linus Ullmark stopped 23 shots, and the Sabres improved to 4-2 in their past six.

Reilly Smith and Tomas Nosek scored for the Golden Knights, who have lost four straight to match their longest streak without a point in their three-year franchise history.

Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 shots.

Lightning 4, Kings 3 (SO)

Nikita Kucherov scored late to force overtime and Steven Stamkos delivered the game-deciding goal in a shootout as Tampa Bay rallied to beat Los Angeles.

Brayden Point also beat Kings goalie Jonathan Quick in the shootout, helping the Lightning rebound from a 2-1 loss to New Jersey that stopped Tampa Bay’s franchise record-tying 10-game winning streak on Sunday.

Stamkos and Alex Killorn also scored in regulation for the Lightning, who overcame deficits of 2-0 and 3-2. Kucherov’s 18th goal of the season made it 3-3 with 1:15 remaining in the third period.

Quick stopped 35 of 38 shots for Los Angeles, which took a 3-2 lead when Dustin Brown scored on the power play at 12:00 of the third.

Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, who blanked the Arizona Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers in his previous two starts, finished with 38 saves.

Maple Leafs 7, Devils 4

Auston Matthews had his first hat trick since scoring four times in his NHL debut and Toronto beat New Jersey.

John Tavares scored as part of a three-point night for the Leafs and Rasmus Sandin had two assists in his first game since getting called up from the minors to help reinforce the injury-riddled defense corps. William Nylander and Zach Hyman each had a goal and an assist, and Frederik Gauthier had the other goal for Toronto (25-16-6), which entered winless in its previous three games. Mitch Marner chipped in with two assists.

Frederik Andersen made 24 saves for the Leafs.

Blake Coleman, with his first-career hat trick, and P.K. Subban scored for New Jersey. Will Butcher had three assists. Louis Domingue allowed five goals on 19 shots before getting yanked midway through the second period. Veteran backup Cory Schneider finished with 13 saves.

Blackhawks 3, Senators 2 (OT)

Jonathan Toews scored 42 seconds into overtime and assisted on Chicago's two other goals in a win over Ottawa.

Dominik Kubalik added a pair of goals for the Blackhawks. Robin Lehner stopped 20 shots.

Connor Brown and Chris Tierney scored first-period goals for the Senators. Rookie goaltender Marcus Hogberg started in net for the third straight game and made 27 saves.

Jets 4, Canucks 0

Kyle Connor scored twice, Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves in his fourth shutout of the season, and Winnipeg snapped a six-game home losing streak with a win over Vancouver.

It was the 18th shutout of Hellebuyck's career and gave him the franchise record for shutouts, surpassing Ondrej Pavelec.

Jack Roslovic and Blake Wheeler also had a goal each and Patrik Laine picked up a pair of assists for the Jets, who have won their past 10 games against Vancouver.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 21 of the 24 shots he faced for the Canucks, who have been shut out three times this season.

Stars 3, Avalanche 2 (OT)

Esa Lindell scored 1:54 into overtime after Jason Dickinson tied the game late in regulation and Dallas put the finishing touches on a season series sweep of Colorado.

Lindell found himself all alone in the middle of the ice and sent a wrist shot past Philipp Grubauer as the Stars rallied from an early two-goal deficit.

Dickinson tied the game for the Stars with 5:23 remaining on a backhand shot. Denis Gurianov also scored in the fourth and final meeting between the Central Division adversaries. The Stars captured the season series 4-0.

Ben Bishop stopped 41 shots in a game in which the Avalanche hit at least three posts.

Gabriel Landeskog and Nikita Zadorov had goals for the Avalanche, with Nathan MacKinnon assisting on both.

Coyotes 6, Sharks 3

Phil Kessel and Taylor Hall each scored twice to lift Arizona over San Jose.

Lawson Crouse and Conor Garland also scored, and Garland and Derek Stepan had three points each. Arizona ended a three-game skid and has won four of five home games. Adin Hill stopped 25 of 28 shots.

Kevin Labanc, Timo Meier and Evander Kane scored for the Sharks, who are 4-2-1 in their last seven games. Labanc and Kane had an assist each, and Aaron Dell had 34 saves.

Oilers 4, Predators 2

Leon Draisaitl had two goals and an assist and Edmonton beat Nashville.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Josh Archibald also scored, and Connor McDavid picked up three assists for the Oilers, who are 5-1-1 in their last seven.

Filip Forsberg and Colin Blackwell scored for Nashville, which had its two-game winning streak halted.