The Jets took their first lead of the game late in the second period, as Cole Perfetti dished a no-look pass from behind the net to a streaking Ehlers who beat Sorokin at 14:50. Vilardi made it 4-2, finishing off some slick passing by roofing a shot from the slot high on Sorokin at 18:18.

The Jets brushed aside a first-period deficit with a three-goal second period and then withstood the Islanders' 19-shot barrage in the third period.

The Islanders are a much better team than they were a month ago. But the gap between them and the league’s best — the gap between them and these Jets — is still big enough to show up over 60 minutes,