Adam Pelech scored the game-winning goal with 1:15 left Tuesday night for the New York Islanders, who edged the New Jersey Devils 2-1 in Elmont, N.Y.
The Islanders’ Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal swapped the puck while skating through the neutral zone before Lee dished to Simon Holmstrom, whose shot from the right faceoff circle caromed off the back boards. Pelech collected the rebound and fired a shot far side past Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom.
The Devils called timeout and pulled Markstrom almost immediately after faceoff, but Islanders goalie David Rittich turned back New Jersey’s lone 6-on-5 shot, a backhander by Timo Meier with 19 seconds left.
Holmstrom scored the tying goal in the second for the Islanders, who snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-3-1 this month despite scoring three goals or fewer eight times. Leading scorer Bo Horvat missed his fifth straight contest Tuesday due to a left ankle injury.
Rittich, playing in place of injured starter Ilya Sorokin, made 31 saves.
Brett Pesce scored in the first for the Devils, who have lost eight of 12 this month. Markstrom recorded 23 saves but committed the turnover leading to Holmstrom’s goal.
The Devils went ahead following a chaotic sequence deep in the Islanders zone with 4:25 left in the first. A lengthy battle for the puck ended with New York center Marc Gatcomb losing it to Dawson Mercer, who sent a no-look pass to Nico Hischier, who was deep in the left faceoff circle. Hischier dished to Pesce, whose shot went beyond Rittich’s glove and bounced off the top post.
The Islanders tied the score in unusual fashion with 7:50 remaining in the second. Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler was skating down the ice to collect a loose puck, but Markstrom beat him to it and his pass glanced off Siegenthaler’s skate and to Holmstrom, who scored into the empty net as Siegenthaler made a futile lunging attempt to get a stick on the shot.
–Field Level Media
