The Islanders felt they got away with a win Monday at Montreal, but back on the ice at Barclays Center less than 24 hours later, there was no getting away from another desperate opponent.
The Devils snapped a six-game losing streak, using a strong second period to secure a physical 4-1 win Tuesday night.
“It’s going to be tough to win games sustaining that kind of attack we’ve had the last two nights,” said Anders Lee, who scored the Islanders’ lone goal of the night on a breakaway just 1:39 into the game. “All those shots are tough on our goalies, tough on our defense. Two nights in a row we’re getting swarmed. We escaped one [Monday night] and tonight just wasn’t in the cards to be able to pull something off like that again.”
The Islanders (23-19-4) had their three-game winning streak snapped while the Devils (23-12-8), with a 42-26 shot advantage, won for the first time in 2018. It was also the Devils’ first win at Barclays Center after having lost eight straight games on the Islanders’ home ice dating back to the Nassau Coliseum.
And for the fourth time in the past five games, an Islanders player couldn’t finish the game due to injury. This time it was winger Shane Prince, who skated off the ice with an upper-body injury with 4:22 left in the second period and did not return.
Already shorthanded up front, dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen, the Islanders spent the third period jumbling their lines, and had no comeback in them.
“Once we got down, it was tough to — you can say makeshift, you can say whatever you want,” said coach Doug Weight, who had no update on Prince’s status. “The fact is we have seven, now eight, guys out. Listen, no one has a violin here. I’m not looking for it, but it’s tough.”
A night after allowing 56 shots on net, the Islanders were in their own zone too often and ran out of gas.
“We weren’t very good [Monday] night, either, so gotta realize we gotta be a lot better than we were the last two games, starting with myself,” John Tavares said.
Jaroslav Halak (38 saves) made some big stops to keep the game knotted at 1-1 early in the second period, including a robbery of Brian Boyle on the power play, but the Islanders’ goalie couldn’t hold off the Devils’ storm.
Damon Severson scored a pair of goals in a span of 1:26 to give the Devils the lead for good. Before the second period was over, Taylor Hall kept a two-on-one for himself to make it a 4-1 Devils lead headed to the third.
“I know if I were a fan, I’d understand that the results haven’t been there, it looks like it’s not happening, but it’s a work in progress,” said Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey, who played the third period as a left wing with Prince missing. “We’re trying to get better in our own end. The shots we’re giving up is not a good indicator. We’re working on things and it’s getting better.”
Weight admitted it was a “tough draw” on the second night of a back-to-back against a Devils team that hadn’t played since Saturday, He also said the Islanders looked tired, both physically and mentally.
“It’s a rocket-ship league,” Weight said. “Not just the speed of the players and the youth and the shape they’re in, but the way the game is designed now to play. I believe when you do go through these phases, it’s tougher to do it. You look at Johnny [Tavares] playing [22:37] last night, gets in his bed at 3:30. I don’t care if you work out all summer and you’re in great shape and you have a great diet. It’s tough.”