Controlling the first two periods, the Devils (35–36–5) nearly saw the tide turn in New York’s (29–36–12) favor as they scored two quick goals in the third. But following the two back-to-back Islanders scores, defenseman Andy Greene, the hero of the game for New Jersey, broke the 2–2 tie with the game-winning goal.
Greene spoke with MSG after the game, saying, “It was important for us to come out tonight and a have a good effort. We played pretty well.”
Devils goalie Martin Brodeur finished the game with a strong effort, stopping 27 of 29 shots on goal.
The win meant little as far as playoff aspirations are concerned, but it enabled New Jersey to break out of a recent skid that saw them go 1–4–1 in their last six games prior to Wednesday night’s matchup—the sixth and final meeting between both teams.
Grinding It Out
The Devils’ scoring drought finally ended as they lit the lamp at 4:17 in the first period off a laser beam of a shot by Ilya Kovalchuk (28 goals) that beat Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro. On the play, Kovalchuk received a pass from teammate Nick Palmieri from behind the net and beat DiPietro with a wrister.
Palmieri commented on the big goal, “Our main focus was to score. That goal was a direct result of what we worked on this week. The big message for this game was to focus on scoring.”
New Jersey added to their lead at 3:23 in the second period as rookie center Jacob Josefson drove to the net and beat DiPietro off a quick rebound, making the score 2–0.
After several strong defensive stands, the Islanders finally got on the scoreboard at 9:38 in the third period when center Frans Nielsen skated down the ice and got a short-handed goal during the Devils’ fourth power play of the game. It was the Isles winger’s seventh short-handed goal of the season.
Minutes later, Nielsen scored again at 13:44 as he tapped in a puck past Brodeur following a scramble in front of the net.
New Jersey got a second wind however, and retook the lead at 15:04 as Andy Green received a pass from Patrik Elias, skated down the left side of the ice and shot the puck over the left pad of DiPietro.
With the crowd energized following Greene’s goal, Brodeur stood tall and faced a flurry of shots from New York as they brought on the extra attacker with less than two minutes remaining.
Brodeur held his ground and helped seal the victory for New Jersey.
