Michael McLeod scored the decisive goal late in the second period, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves as the New Jersey Devils secured a 2-1 win over the playoff-bound New York Islanders on Thursday night. This victory marked the Devils’ fifth win in their last six games.
Pavel Zacha also found the back of the net for the Devils, who beat the Islanders for the second time in seven meetings this season. After an overtime win against Boston, the Devils have now claimed consecutive victories against postseason-bound teams.
“We’ve been playing good hockey lately, beating some top teams that could go far in the playoffs,” McLeod said. “That’s a big confidence boost for us heading into the offseason, knowing we can compete with these teams when we play the right way.”
Devils coach Lindy Ruff was pleased with his team’s performance. “We skated well right from the start,” Ruff said. “Our puck movement was solid, and our execution was on point. We generated energy early, which was key.”
Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Islanders on a fortunate deflection. Still, the team has now lost three straight (0-2-1), including defeats to Buffalo and New Jersey, the bottom two teams in the East Division. Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves for New York, which has also dropped six of its last eight games (2-4-2).
“We need to return to our identity,” Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. “We’ve been straying from our game plan. We start games the right way but don’t get the results, and then we begin to deviate from what makes us successful.”
The teams will meet again on Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum to conclude their season series.
Blackwood was stellar in goal, making eight saves in the first period, 11 in the second, and 13 in the third to earn his fifth consecutive win. After struggling earlier in the season, Blackwood has improved his record to 14-16-4.
“He’s been much calmer and more confident in the net,” Ruff said. “We’ve also been better defensively before him, which helps.”
Former Devils Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, who were traded to the Islanders before the deadline, faced their old team for the first time. Blackwood denied Palmieri on a close-range attempt with 7:21 remaining in the game.
The Islanders pulled Varlamov for an extra skater with about 1:30 left but couldn’t find the equalizer.
“We had moments where we played well, but credit to the Devils—they stuck to their game plan,” Palmieri said. “We saw how we could be successful against them, but we didn’t maintain it for the full game, and that made the difference.”
The Islanders tied the game early in the second period when Scott Mayfield’s centering pass deflected off Beauvillier’s skate and into the net at 5:35. It was Beauvillier’s 15th goal of the season.
The Devils regained the lead late in the second period when McLeod quickly beat Varlamov from the right side for his ninth goal with 4:30 remaining.
New York outshot New Jersey 6-1 in the first 8:14 game but couldn’t capitalize. The Devils turned the tide and outshot the Islanders 11-2 for the rest of the period.
Zacha gave the Devils a 1-0 lead with 5:49 left in the first period, marking his 16th goal of the season and extending his career-high to 34 points.
SURGING STATS
Zacha now has six goals and nine points in his last seven games. Damon Severson has five assists during his five-game point streak. Beauvillier has extended his point streak to five games with five goals and six points in that span and has seven goals and four assists in his last nine games.
LINEUP NOTES
Islanders forward Mathew Barzal returned to the lineup after missing Tuesday’s game against Buffalo, ending his streak of 284 consecutive games. RW Jordan Eberle and D Andy Greene, another former Devil, were scratched.
For the Devils, 20-year-old LW Nolan Foote was back in the lineup after rejoining the team from Binghamton of the AHL. New Jersey was without LW Andreas Johnsson (lower-body injury) for the sixth straight game, RW Mikhail Maltsev (lower-body injury) for the third straight, and D Ty Smith (upper-body injury) for the second straight. LW Miles Wood, D P.K. Subban, and D Jonas Siegenthaler were also scratched.
ON THE MOVE
The Devils announced the relocation of their AHL franchise from Binghamton to Utica, New York, under a 10-year agreement. This marks the second time the Devils’ AHL team will be in Utica, where they played as the Utica Devils from 1987 to 1993. They were also known as the Albany River Rats (1993-2006), Lowell Devils (2006-10), and Albany Devils (2010-17). The team will be called the Utica Comets starting with the 2021-22 season.
