The New York Islanders’ winning streak ends at three and the New Jersey Devils end their losing streak at six with a 4-1 win.
- New York Islanders (23-19-4, 50 points)
- New Jersey Devils (23-12-8, 54 points)
- NYI Goals: Anders Lee (26)
- NJD Goals: Kyle Palmeri (8), Damon Severson (5, 6), Taylor Hall (16)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
Anders Lee put the Isles ahead 1-0, but it was all Devils from there on. Four-straight goals buried the Isles in the second period and helped the Devils break their six-game losing streak.
The Isles mustered only 26 shots on net while the Devils responded with 46 of their own. Jaroslav Halak’s solid night in net went to waste. Jaro made 42 saves for a .913 save percentage despite allowing four goals.
The Isles were on the tail end of their back-to-back having beaten the Canadiens 5-4 in overtime a little over 24 hours ago.
After Lee’s 26th of the season, the Devils buckled down and took control of the game, thoroughly outskating the Islanders to score four straight goals.
Recap
Lee blocked a shot from John Moore as the puck bounced out to center and he jumped right on it, beating Keith Kinkaid for a 1-0 Isles lead.
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) January 17, 2018
Kyle Palmeri slapped a shot right out of Alex Ovechkin’s circle that beat Halak for a game-tying powerplay goal. The Islanders still hold the league’s second-worst penalty kill, if you were curious.
Brock Nelson also made his presence known, dropping the gloves with Andy Greene for the first fight of his career.
The first fight of Brock Nelson's career #Isles pic.twitter.com/EgKUhRwQVG
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) January 17, 2018
In the second-half of the middle frame, Shane Prince delivered a huge hit which caused a commotion in front and allowed Damon Severson to score the first of his pair.
Big hit, fortunate bounce 2-1 #NJDevils #Isles pic.twitter.com/QEgpWu7LGM
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) January 17, 2018
Alan Quine couldn’t clear the puck and the end result was a 3-1 Devils lead.
Quine can't clear, Damon Severson with goals on back to back shifts to give #NJDevils a 3-1 lead #Isles pic.twitter.com/9TqYKVAI5k
— IslesBlog (@IslesBlog) January 17, 2018
The Isles were still well within reach, but yet another turnover — this time by John Tavares — sent Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier on a 2-on-1 which gave Hall his 16th of the season and what ended up being the coffin-nail in the Isles game.
I love Taylor Hall #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/F6ELQgbtjK
— Evan | 54 ❤️ | 55 ?️ (@ShinyFishay) January 17, 2018
It’s without a doubt a tough pill for the Isles to swallow. Having just played last night in Montreal, several tired legs took the ice today and it painfully showed.
That isn’t to discredit the Devils tenacity, they wanted to end their skid and were prepared to battle tooth and nail to do so. Another 46 shots made their way to Halak, and the Islanders continue to put their goaltenders in very tough situations.
With the rash of injury that’s hit the Isles combined with how persistent the issues on the blueline have been fans are starting to grow impatient with General Manager Garth Snow’s inactivity thus far.
Most of the hockey world has been tossing Snow’s name around in trade talks and as one of the more active GM’s in the NHL. The time to act was yesterday, and the defensive collapses are starting to wear down only halfway through the season.
