Islanders beat Devils in first game in 12 days

Mathew Barzal pumped his right arm low to the ice. The Islanders’ long layoff had not dulled his goal celebrations. If anything, being kept from playing hockey for 12 days enhanced his joy at scoring the winner.

"Being off for 12 days, just finding some excitement in the game," Barzal said. "I thought the first 53 minutes of the game for me wasn’t my best. So I just let 12 days of emotion out. It felt good."

Barzal’s one-timer to the upper right corner off Josh Bailey’s feed at 15:07 of the third period gave the Islanders a 3-2 win over the Devils on Thursday night at UBS Arena.

It was their first game since a 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Oilers on New Year’s Day and just their fourth game in 26 days.

The rust showed early and sporadically throughout the game. Their discipline lacked at times.

But the Islanders (11-12-6), still last in the Metropolitan Division yet the only team in the NHL that has played fewer than 30 games, are on a three-game winning streak and are 6-2-4 since Dec. 7. They moved within five points of the seventh-place Devils (14-18-5), who were playing for the first time in 10 days, as they started a stretch of four straight division games.

"We put a lot of emphasis on this one," said Bailey, whose power-play goal — his second goal of the season — tied the score at 1 at 18:59 of the first period. "We wanted to come out ready. It was just trying to find a result. It was great to get the win."

"Everyone knows where we’re at in the standings," said Zach Parise, the Islanders’ most consistent forward in the game, both five-on-five as well as both special teams. "We’ve got a lot of games in hand so we’ve got to start winning hockey games. Everyone was in the mix tonight."

Coach Barry Trotz missed his second straight game, this time as he remains in COVID-19 protocol. Associate coach Lane Lambert also ran the bench against the Oilers as Trotz mourned the passing of his mother.

The Devils tied it at 2 at 10:25 of the third period on Nathan Bastian’s power-play deflection of defenseman Ty Smith’s shot. It was the Devils’ second straight man advantage, with All-Star defenseman Adam Pelech tripping Bastian at 7:47 of the third period and then Brock Nelson, back in the lineup after missing the last two games while in COVID-19 protocol, cross-checking Michael McLeod at 10:08.

Jon Gillies made 22 saves for the Devils in his 15th NHL appearance with Devils No. 1 goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and backup Akira Schmid in COVID-19 protocol. Gillies participated in the Islanders’ training camp in September on a professional tryout.

Both teams showed the expected rust through a loose first period, which featured numerous rushes either way and 14 shots for each.

Yegor Sharangovich opened the scoring at 9:43 on a harmless wrist shot from the left that snuck past Sorokin’s short side for a soft goal. Sorokin had been sharp earlier on the Devils’ first power play, twice denying Tomas Tatar from in tight.

The teams totaled 11 shots in the second period, with Pelech giving the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 9:22 on a shot from the slot that deflected off Devils defenseman Ryan Graves and through Parise’s screen at the net.

"It’s been a challenging first 20-something games for us as a group," Parise said. "We’re playing some good hockey. We’re finding different ways to win."

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.