Islanders Defeat Devils in First Game in Front of Fans
The New York Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 at Prudential Center on Tuesday night. Oliver Wahlstrom and Anders Lee scored the goals for the Islanders. Semyon Varlamov was great in net and was only 13 seconds away from his fourth shutout of the season. This game was a monumental moment this season for both teams, as this is the first game these two teams have played in front of fans this season.
At the end of the first period, the Islanders went to the power play but nothing came from it. Other than the penalty the first period was mostly uneventful. Aaron Dell made two great glove saves on JG Pageau, from point-blank range. Shortly after Ryan Pulock launched a rocket of a shot directly off the crossbar.
In the early portion of the second period, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck took penalties giving the Devils some power-play time, including a 25 second 5-on-3. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov took a tripping penalty on Miles Wood as he was trying to wrap around the net, saving a goal. That penalty was easily killed off.
40 minutes through the game, the score was still scoreless. JG Pageau set up Oliver Wahlstrom with a great stretch pass, before Wahlstrom walked in the offensive zone, stepped into the slot, and ripped the puck past Aaron Dell. The rookie now has points in five straight games. Later in the period, Anders Lee scored his team-leading 10th goal of the season. He was jabbing for the puck down low and squeezed it past the glove of Dell.
The Islanders did what they do best in the latter portion of the game. Once they took the lead they played shutdown defense and didn’t let the Devils back in the game until there were 13 seconds left in the game. Miles Wood scored with those 13 seconds remaining to spoil Semyon Varlamov’s shutout, but it didn’t matter as the Islanders ultimately won the game.
The Devils led most of the statistics in this game including the shots, where they had 29 compared to the Islanders’ 20. The Devils were also 0/4 on the power-play. Their lone goal came from Miles Wood with just 13 seconds left on the clock.
The Islanders are back in action on Thursday night, back home at the Coliseum as they take on the Buffalo Sabres at 7 P.M. EST.
