NEWARK, NJ–
It wasn’t until 7:38 of the frame that they registered their first shot on goal and with their score of the night.
While on an extended shift in the defensive end, Anders Lee finally broke the puck out for the Islanders by smartly chipping it up the wall into the neutral zone. It was there that it was picked up by Pierre Engvall, resulting in a two-on-one chance. With a cross-ice feed, Engvall perfectly set up Jean-Gabriel Pageau on a one-timer for his 11th goal of the season.
Kyle Palmieri increased the lead at 16:52 of the period as he deflected in Mike Reilly’s point shot on the man-advantage. The goal was Palmieri’s 29th of the season and broke a run of nine consecutive failed power play opportunities for the Islanders.
It wasn’t too long into the second period that the Islanders had their lead cut in half.
After making a rather routine glove save on a shot from Jesper Bratt, Semyon Varlamov dropped the puck to the ice. However, he likely didn’t see Timo Meier waiting patiently on the doorstep, where he pounced on the loose puck to make it 2-1 at 3:25 of the middle frame.
A short thirty seconds later, the Islanders found themselves with their backs against the wall and shorthanded, as Brock Nelson was sent to the penalty box to serve a two-minute minor for tripping. Rather than surrendering a game-tying goal, the penalty-killing unit held strong, and Nelson later rectified his mistake by giving the Islanders another two-goal cushion.
Standing in the low slot, Nelson snapped a quick wrist shot past Devils goalie Jake Allen at 11:48 of the period for his 33rd goal of the season with assists from Hudson Fasching and Palmieri.
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