Eberle scores 2, Isles win

DETROIT — With no goals in his first 14 games this season, Jordan Eberle was understandably frustrated.

“Ever since the ankle injury, I’ve come back and had a ton of chances,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t go in.”

Eberle finally ended that drought with two goals Monday night, and Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves to lift the Islanders over Detroit 4-1, extending the Red Wings’ winless streak to 10 games.

“It’s funny how it works,” Eberle said. “You don’t score for a while and then you score two.”

Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier also scored for the Islanders, who were outshot 31-25 but never trailed. Dylan Larkin had the only goal for Detroit.

The Isles have alternated starting goalies for their first 25 games this season, a franchise record. Monday was Varlamov’s turn, although he actually played in the team’s previous game — a 2-0 win over Columbus on Saturday — after starter Thomas Greiss had to exit in the first period. The Islanders nearly pulled off a second straight shutout against the struggling Red Wings.

“We got to clean up a few things, but they’re playing desperate,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “They threw a lot of pucks — they had 56 attempts, I think. I thought we did a pretty good job.”

The Islanders scored twice in the first period. Lee beat goalie Jonathan Bernier from pointblank range off a pass from Mathew Barzal. Then the Islanders scored again immediately after killing off a penalty. Beauvillier came out of the penalty box, took a pass from Josh Bailey and skated in on a breakaway to make it 2-0.

Larkin’s power-play goal made it 2-1 in the second, but the Islanders also struck with the manadvantage in that period. The Isles actually had a two-man advantage for 88 seconds, and immediately after the first penalty expired, the puck bounced to Eberle to the right of the net. Bernier was too late lunging over, and the Islanders had a two-goal lead again. —