Going-away present
Isles win, now start 9-game trip
RYAN Strome helped the Islanders bounce back from a Saturday night loss in Newark for a critical home victory over the Devils.
Strome notched two goals and an assist to lead the Islanders to a 6-4 victory over the Devils on Sunday night in a chippy game that featured hard hits and a lot of action after whistles.
The Devils beat the Islanders, 3-2, Saturday night in the opener of the home-and-home set, the teams’ first two meetings of the season.
“I felt we probably played better yesterday, but so did they,” Islanders interim coach Doug Weight said. “We had some big plays at the right times . . . . It was physical, it was hard hockey. There’ll be ice bags after that weekend. Coming out of yesterday, it was a big win.”
John Tavares, Andrew Ladd, Casey Cizikas and Jason Chimera also scored to help the Islanders improve to 9-0-2 in their last 11 at home. Jean-Francois Berube stopped 26 shots for the Isles.
Just a month ago, the Islanders were mired in last place in the conference. “We still had confidence that we had a pretty good team in here that could do some damage,” said Ladd, who has four goals over the last three games. “It took a lot of hard work to get back to where we’re at, but we’re still fighting for our lives. It keeps going on and we’ve got to keep finding ways to win.”
The Islanders, tied with Carolina and Dallas for the fewest road victories at 7-13-4, now play nine straight road games over a 19-day stretch due to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball tournament at Barclays Center.
“Hopefully we can get on the road and get together as a team and start to be that good road team that we can be,” Weight said.
Taylor Hall notched a goal and two assists, Kyle Palmieri added a goal and an assist, and Miles Wood and Joseph Blandisi also scored for the Devils, while Keith Kinkaid finished with 26 saves. The Devils had won six straight on the road and were 8-0-1 in their last nine away from Prudential Center.
“We did a good job coming back,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “I thought tonight we played very well at times — the way we played, the way we competed.”
After the Devils scored twice 41/2 minutes apart in the second period to trim a 4-1 deficit to one, Tavares and Chimera scored twice 34 seconds apart in the opening minute of the third to help the Islanders pull away again.