Islanders prep for long trip with 6-4 win over Devils
NEW YORK -- John Tavares and Jason Chimera scored in the first minute of the third period Sunday night and the New York Islanders prepared for the longest road trip in franchise history by holding off the New Jersey Devils 6-4 at Barclays Center.
The Devils scored twice in the final six-plus minutes of the third period to pull within 4-3 before Tavares (power-play goal) and Chimera provided the Islanders some breathing room.
Ryan Strome scored twice and Casey Cizikas and Andrew Ladd added a goal apiece for the Islanders (27-21-10), who avenged a 3-2 loss to the Devils on Saturday night and temporarily moved into a tie for the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Goalie Jean-Francois Berube had 26 saves for the Islanders, who begin a nine-game trip on Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings. New York doesn't return to the Barclays Center until March 13.
Miles Wood, Kyle Palmieri, Steven Santini and Taylor Hall each scored a goal for the Devils (25-24-10), who were trying to move within two or three points of the second wild-card spot.
Goalie Keith Kinkaid made 26 saves for the Devils.
A tripping penalty on Cizikas set up Wood's power-play goal that gave the Devils the lead just before the midway point of the first period. Hall's pass from the right faceoff circle hit Wood, who was surrounded by Islanders defensemen Dennis Seidenberg and Calvin De Haan yet managed to get a stick on the puck and poke it past Berube at 9:15.
The Islanders tied the score after a chaotic sequence that ended with Strome collecting his first goal with 5:27 left in the period. Devils defenseman Damon Severson blocked a shot by Islanders left winger Anthony Beauvillier, but the puck bounced to Strome, who buried the rebound past Kinkaid.
That was the first of four consecutive goals by the Islanders, who scored three times in a span of less than 10 minutes in the second. Cizikas gave New York the lead with a nifty individual effort in which he steered the puck around the back of the net before tucking it between Kinkaid's legs at 2:44.
A battle for the puck deep in the Devils' zone led to an unassisted goal by Strome with 10:28 left. New Jersey center Jacob Josefson briefly had control of the puck, but Strome swiped it and went in untouched for his first two-goal game since Feb. 16, 2015.
Another Devils turnover led to a short-handed breakaway goal by Ladd with 8:01 to go. Center Joseph Blandisi lost the puck near center ice and Ladd skated along the left side and deked as if he was going to pass across the ice before scoring his fourth goal in the last three games.
The Devils ended the Islanders' run just 82 seconds later when Palmieri corralled a loose puck, turned and fired a shot past Berube, all while being surrounded by De Haan and Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy.
Santini pulled the Devils within 4-3 with 2:05 left in the period when his shot from the right faceoff circle appeared to bounce off Islanders right winter Stephen Gionta, who was fighting for position with Blandisi, The puck sailed into the air, but Berube could not knock it down.
NOTES: The Islanders scratched RW Cal Clutterbuck (lower body), C Shane Prince (upper body) and D Adam Pelech. Clutterbuck has missed the last nine games while Prince has been out for four straight games. ... Only one other NHL team, the Los Angeles Kings, had a nine-game road trip this season (Dec. 13-29). The Kings went 21 days in between home games, one fewer day than the Islanders will go between games at Barclays Center. ... The Devils scratched LW Mike Cammalleri and D Seth Helgeson. It was the second straight healthy scratch for Cammalleri, who had never been a healthy scratch in his 14-year career prior to Saturday. ... The Devils played the same opponent in a home-and-home back-to-back for the second time this season. New Jersey swept the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 11-12.