Jack Hughes scored 1:18 into overtime Saturday night for the visiting New Jersey Devils, who overcame a two-goal, third-period deficit to edge the New York Islanders 5-4.
Hughes scored on a breakaway to give the Devils their first lead of the game.
Evan Rodrigues, Declan Chisholm, Luke Evangelista and Dougie Hamilton also scored for the Devils, who have won four straight and eight of their past nine games. Goalie Jake Allen made 19 saves.
Anthony Duclair, Matthew Schaefer, Simon Holmstrom and Victor Eklund scored for the Islanders, who have lost three straight (0-2-1). Goalie Ilya Sorokin made 45 saves. The 50 shots the Islanders faced were their most since the Calgary Flames recorded 52 on March 11, 2018, in a 5-2 Islanders victory.
The teams combined for three goals in a span of 2:08 late in the first period.
Holmstrom beat Allen to a loose puck behind the Devils’ net before spinning and passing from the goal line to Duclair, who beat Allen glove side with 4:54 remaining. The Devils took advantage of a turnover by Matthew Kessel to tie the score just 17 seconds later, when Rodrigues’ shot on a semi-breakaway bounced off Sorokin’s glove arm and trickled into the net.
Schaefer put the Islanders ahead again with an impressive individual effort with 2:46 remaining. He briefly lost the puck while surrounded at the goal line by Hamilton, Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler but regained possession and shoved it past Allen.
The teams again traded tying and go-ahead goals within a 26-second span early in the second period.
Jesper Bratt’s shot from above the right faceoff circle glanced off Arseny Gritsyuk’s stick, and the puck bounced off the back boards to Chisholm, who beat a sprawling Sorokin at 4:42.
Holmstrom put the Islanders ahead 3-2 following a chaotic sequence. Bo Horvat’s pass bounced off Johnathan Kovacevic’s stick to Kyle Palmieri, who sent the puck underneath Chisholm’s legs to Holmstrom. Holmstrom fired past Allen’s glove as the goalie fell in the crease.
The Islanders doubled their lead with 8:06 remaining in the second, when Eklund tucked home the puck after DeAngelo’s shot from the left faceoff circle bounced off Allen and into the crease.
Evangelista pulled the Devils within one 6:08 into the third, batting in the rebound of his own shot.
The Islanders withstood 27 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play before Hamilton tied the score with a power-play goal from the slot with 6:18 remaining.
–Field Level Media
