New York Islanders start trip on a high
newark — The New York Islanders began a seven-game road trip with a 1-0 win at New Jersey on Friday, widening the gap between the rivals in the closely-fought NHL Central Division.
Casey Cizikas scored a lucky early goal and Jaroslav Halak had 27 saves in his shutout as the Islanders moved four points clear of the Devils in a division where only 11 points separates second place from seventh.
Carolina is also in that tussle, and its win over San Jose moved the Hurricanes within a point of the Devils and three clear of Philadelphia.
Islanders goaltender Halak was outstanding and had a little help from the post while getting his third shutout of the season. He preserved the lead with a pad save on a Lee Stempniak shot in the third period when the Devils’ forward had a seemingly empty net. Carolina’s Jeff Skinner scored twice in the third period to help the Hurricanes beat San Jose 5-2.
Chris Terry and Joakim Nordstrom also scored, and Jordan Staal added an empty-netter for Carolina, which has not lost consecutive games in more than two months. Brent Burns and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose, which lost its first game in four. Montreal’s Paul Byron scored in the fifth round of a shootout to clinch a 3-2 victory over Philadelphia.
Dale Weise and Max Pacioretty scored in regulation for Montreal, which is trying to stabilize its performances after a super start to the season, then a serious slide in the weeks leading up to the All-Star break. The Flyers had goals from Nick Cousins and Michael Raffl.
Calgary boosted its faint playoff ambitions with a 5-2 win against fading Vancouver, with TJ Brodie staying hot with three assists.