If the Islanders are to have any hope of actually making the playoffs, this bit about not being able to win with any consistency on the road has to be fixed.
It was another sluggish start and a third-period push that was too little, too late, as the Islanders lost to the Devils, 3-2, on Saturday night at Prudential Center.
Facing a 3-0 deficit with just over 13 minutes remaining, the Islanders pushed, and even had Nick Leddy hit the pipe on a power-play shot in the final two minutes that would have tied it. But the frenetic final moments again ended in road defeat, and the Isles lost two points to another team pushing them for a postseason spot.
The Islanders (26-21-10) were coming off an emotional victory against the rival Rangers on Thursday night in Brooklyn, and it had taken them to 9-3-2 under interim head coach Doug Weight. But Weight knew with 18 of the final 26 games of the regular season on the road, his team, which now is 7-13-5 in games away from Barclays Center, is going to have its hands full. That started against the Devils (25-23-10), who were fighting for that same second wild-card playoff spot.
“We have a lot of road games and a crappy road record. I’m saying it,” Weight said Thursday night. “We have to be better on the road. You talk about 200-by-85 [feet], it’s a rink. But we have delve into it as coaches and figure it out.”
The third period started poorly for the Islanders, as Anders Lee took a hooking penalty, and the Devils scored on the ensuing power play when Pavel Zacha’s shot deflected high and over the shoulder of goalie Thomas Greiss, giving New Jersey a 3-0 lead.
Yet the shutout for Devils netminder Cory Schneider disappeared when Andrew Ladd got his 15th of the season on a goalmouth scramble, making it 3-1 with 11:02 left to play. Devils coach John Hynes challenged, but after a quick review, it was upheld.
Then Islanders 19-year-old rookie Anthony Beauvillier made things interesting, when he followed his own shot and beat Schneider to cut the deficit to 3-2 with just over six minutes remaining in regulation.
The Devils had been the team with more jump from the beginning, taking a 1-0 lead 7:10 into the first period when Devante Smith-Pelly easily got behind struggling Isles defenseman Calvin de Haan and then beat Greiss with a slick backhand through the legs.
The Islanders tried to push in the second period, recording 20 shots on a goal in the frame, but were unable to beat Schneider. Instead, the Devils extended their lead to 2-0 at 8:49 when Travis Zajac beat Greiss on a shorthanded 2-on-1. It allowed the Devils to take that two-goal lead into the third, and had the Islanders pondering their difficulties on the road.
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