Curtis Lazar scored the go-ahead goal with 21.5 seconds remaining in the third period on Tuesday, lifting the host New Jersey Devils to a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders in Newark, N.J.
Lazar poked home a loose puck to help New Jersey cap a three-goal outburst in the third period.
New Jersey’s Jack Hughes recorded a goal and two assists and Lazar joined Dawson Mercer and Michael McLeod with one of each. Captain Nico Hischier also scored a goal and Akira Schmid stopped all nine shots he faced in relief of Vitek Vanecek, who yielded four goals on 18 shots.
New York’s Mathew Barzal collected a goal and two assists, Bo Horvat scored a power-play goal and Cal Clutterbuck and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also tallied. Defenseman Noah Dobson notched two assists and Ilya Sorokin turned aside 28 shots for the Islanders, who saw their six-game point streak (3-0-3) come to a halt.
Barzal forged a 2-2 tie after reeling in an outlet pass from captain Anders Lee and converting a breakaway at 8:24 of the second period.
Clutterbuck’s backhand shot in the slot gave New York the lead just 76 seconds later, and Pageau’s deflection from in front chased Vanecek with 6:55 left in the second.
Hughes halved the deficit after converting Mercer’s cross-seam pass from the right circle at 5:08 of the third period. Hischier made good on a tap-in at the crease on a 4-on-3 power play to level the contest at 4-4 with 8:50 remaining.
New York exhibited strong puck movement before Dobson fed Horvat, who wired a one-timer from the right circle that sailed inside the near post to open the scoring at 5:16 of the first period.
McLeod answered just more than five minutes later after skating up ice on a 2-on-1 advantage and wiring the puck past Sorokin.
Mercer converted a feed from Hughes off a rush to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 4:19 of the second period.
–Field Level Media
