Player of the Week | Josh Bailey
Josh Bailey built to a five-game point streak with four strong outings last week as he tallied eight points (4-4–8) for the New York Islanders, which included his first NHL career hat trick.
JOSH BAILEY
DEC. 11–17, 2017
4-4–8 IN 4GP
FIRST NHL CAREER HAT TRICK
31 ASSISTS CURRENTLY RANKS T-2 IN 2017-18 SEASON
On the heels of an impressive four games, Josh Bailey is building towards another strong season as the Bowmanville-born winger tallied eight points (4-4–8) for the New York Islanders, including his first NHL career hat trick.
Bailey started his week off by helping the Isles to a 3-1 win over the visiting Washington Capitals Monday. The 28-year-old picked up the primary assist on team captain John Tavares' marker in the second period, and had three blocked shots over 17:51 of ice time – second among New York forwards in the game.
Next in town were the Dallas Stars, who skated away with a 5-2 win Wednesday, but Bailey extended his personal point streak to three games with a pair of assists on goals by Anders Lee in the final frame. His second point of the night was the 341st of his career, all for the Islanders, and with it passed Pierre Turgeon for 17th on the franchise's all-time scoring list.
The road was kind to Bailey in Columbus as he picked up his first NHL career hat trick in a 6-4 loss to the Blue Jackets the next day. Tavares assisted on each of Bailey's goals Thursday, the first of which was a pretty toe drag that beat Sergei Bobrovsky five-hole, and also ended a streak of 19 unanswered Blue Jackets goals on home ice versus the Islanders. Bailey's efficient performance – scoring on each of his three shots on goal, including one on the power-play – led him to being named the game's second star.
The Islanders ended their week on a high note with a 4-3 overtime win against the visiting Los Angeles Kings Saturday night. Bailey opened the scoring for the Islanders in the first period with his ninth goal of the season before assisting on a game-tying goal by Tavares in the middle frame. He skated in 22:06 of ice time to lead all Islanders forwards, and second only to defenceman Nick Leddy.
Bailey currently sits tied for second place in assists with 31 this season, and is among impressive company with a pair of NHL captains – Steven Stamkos and Blake Wheeler of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets, respectively.
With 40 points to his name already in the 2017-18 season, and eight games left before the halfway mark, Bailey is nearing the career-high total of 56 points that he recorded last season.
Complete listing of the 2017-18 NHLPA.com Players of the Week here.