Brock Nelson netted two goals, Cal Clutterbuck added a goal and an assist, and the New York Islanders triumphed over the New Jersey Devils 6-4 on Friday night. The first-place Devils suffered only their second regulation loss in 21 games.
Anders Lee, Casey Cizikas, and Oliver Wahlstrom also found the net for the Islanders. Mathew Barzal and Alexander Romanov contributed two assists each as New York improved to 8-2-0 in their last 10 visits to Prudential Center. Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves.
“It was a good hockey game. It’s a team that’s been playing well all year, and we’re trying to catch them,” said Islanders forward Zach Parise. “There’s a lot on the line. We had a good little outburst in the second period.”
Jack Hughes scored a goal and had an assist, while Nico Hischier, Tomas Tatar, and Dawson Mercer scored for the Devils. Dougie Hamilton, Jesper Bratt, and Jonas Siegenthaler each added two assists.
Vitek Vanecek started in goal for the Devils but was pulled early in the second period after giving up four goals on 17 shots. Akira Schmid replaced him and made 13 saves for the rest of the game.
“It is tough to win every night, and if you don’t take care of the puck and your details aren’t good, you’ll lose,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “Our goalies have given us such good nights. Our puck play caught up to us.”
The Devils struck first with Hischier’s 12th goal of the season on a power play 5:32 into the game.
Nelson tied it up from the right side off a pass from Romanov with 4:23 left in the first, extending his point streak to seven games.
“We kind of felt like we wanted to come out and play a strong game,” Nelson said. “It’s a big win.”
Two minutes later, Vanecek made a sprawling glove save on Nelson, but Lee put the Islanders ahead 2-1 with his ninth goal just nine seconds before the first period ended.
Romanov’s body check on Devils forward Miles Wood in the second period sparked a melee near the Islanders’ net. Romanov was challenged to a fight by Devils forward Michael McLeod.
“I can’t just let him skate through the four guys and score,” Romanov said. I never chased some guys, never tried to destroy somebody. It was just a clean hit, solid.”
Cizikas scored his first goal of the season at 3:31 of the second, followed by Wahlstrom’s seventh goal 34 seconds later, making it 4-1 and prompting the Devils to replace Vanecek with Schmid. It was the sixth time this season—and the fourth in the last six games—that the Islanders scored two goals less than a minute apart.
“I like how we played,” Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “I like the fact that we stayed connected as a group. And 5-on-5 did a good job. It was a very encouraging performance.”
Mercer pulled the Devils closer at 6:03 with his seventh goal of the season, but Nelson added another power-play goal with 3:13 left in the second for his 14th goal.
“I think we lacked a little discipline,” Hischier said. “I liked the effort at the end, but it’s hard to win if you give up six goals.”
Just one minute into the third period, Clutterbuck made it 6-2 with his third goal of the season.
Tatar responded with his seventh goal at 2:30, with Bratt getting his team-leading 20th assist on the play.
New Jersey pulled Schmid for an extra skater with more than seven minutes left, and Hughes scored his team-leading 14th goal with 6:21 remaining to cut the deficit to 6-4. That was as close as the Devils got.
HISTORIC SWEATERS
The Devils wore their Reverse Retro white sweaters at home for the first time. The jerseys feature the color schemes of the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies, the franchise’s previous two homes before moving to New Jersey for the 1982-83 season.
UP NEXT
- Devils: Visit the New York Rangers on Monday night.
- Islanders: Host Carolina on Saturday night.
