Anders Lee scores OT winner, Islanders beat Devils 4-3
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Anders Lee scored with 51 seconds left in overtime and the New York Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Casey Cizikas, Jordan Eberle, Tom Kuhnhackl also scored for the Islanders. Thomas Greiss made 32 saves for the Islanders, including one on defenseman Sami Vatanen on a 3-on-1 break in overtime.
P.K. Subban, Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri scored for the Devils, who were looking for their second win over the Islanders in less than a week.
A gutsy Mackenzie Blackwood shook off an illness and bloodied mouth and stopped 37 shots for New Jersey.
The game-winner came when the Islanders caught the Devils on a line change. Devon Toews gave Lee the puck and he beat Blackwood up high for his 13th goal.
Blackwood, who was sick on Monday, was bloodied late in the second period when a hard slap shot by Ryan Pulock hit him in the mask.
Neither team led by more than a goal in the entertaining game between the longtime rivals.
The Devils grabbed their first lead of the night when Palmieri scored on the game’s only power play with 8:05 left in regulation.
Kuhnhackl, who was sidelined from Oct. 27 to Dec. 19 with a lower-body injury, tied the game a little more than two minutes later with a shot from the right point after the Devils turned the puck over in their own zone.
The Islanders took two one-goal leads, only to see the Devils tie the game.
Hischier tied it at 2-all with 1:36 left in the second period. He collected the puck in the right corner, skated to the blue line and then cut back toward the goal and beat Greiss with a backhander from the left circle after fighting off a check by Mathew Barzal.
Eberle gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead midway through the first period with a shot from between the circles after a giveaway by Devils defenseman Damon Severson.
Cizikas opened the scoring at 3:38, putting the rebound of a Matt Martin shot past Blackwood.
Subban tied the game with a slap shot about five minutes later. Miles Wood set up the goal, circling the Islanders zone to find the defenseman.
NOTES: There were no penalties for the first 51:36. … No. 1 overall draft pick Jack Hughes missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. … F Jesper Bratt missed his second straight with lower-body injury. … Subban and Hischier also scored in the Devils’ 2-1 win over the Islanders last week. … Islanders D Sebastian Aho was scratched for the third straight game since his recall from Bridgeport (AHL). … New York D Noah Dobson turned 20 Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Islanders: Host Boston on Saturday in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Devils: At the New York Rangers on Thursday night.
