NEWARK, NJ — Brock Nelson scored two goals, and the New York Islanders held on for a 6-4 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Friday.
“It’s a big win,” Nelson said. “We kind of felt like we wanted to come out and play a strong game.”
Cal Clutterbuck had a goal and an assist, Mathew Barzal and Alexander Romanov each had two assists, and Semyon Varlamov made 25 saves for the Islanders (17-11-0), who had lost three of four.
“I liked the way we played for the most part,” New York coach Lane Lambert said. “We played eight minutes of 5-on-6 and just didn’t find a way to put it in and finish the game. Other than that, I thought we did a lot of really good things.”
Video: Cizikas and Wahlstrom score two in 34 seconds
Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist for the Devils (21-5-1), who ended their six-game point streak. Vitek Vanecek allowed four goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Akira Schmidtwho made 13 saves.
Nico Hischier scored a power-play goal to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 5:32 of the first period.
“To their credit, they came out and battled hard,” Hischier said. “They were chipping pucks all night, and that’s easy hockey. It can be effective, and they waited for us to make some mistakes and buried those. We need to clean up some things. If you give up six goals, you’re not going to win a hockey game.”
Video: NYI@NJD: Clutterbuck picks up the puck and nets it
Nelson tied it 1-1 on a wraparound at 15:37.
“I’m feeling good, just trying to get out there and impact both sides, offensively for sure,” Nelson said. “We’re trying to take advantage of some more shots and more opportunities to generate 5-on-5 as a line. I felt we did a pretty good job of that.”
Nelson has eight points (five goals, three assists) during an NHL career-high seven-game point streak.
“He was outstanding tonight, moving his feet,” Lambert said. “I thought his skating was great right from the get-go, and that’s always the key for Brock. When he’s moving, he’s doing a great job.”
Video: NYI@NJD: Nelson gets a wraparound goal in the 1st
Anders Lee gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead with nine seconds remaining in the first, scoring through a screen from the high slot.
Casey Cizikas pushed it to 3-1 with a one-timer from in front at 3:31 of the second period. Oliver Wahlstrom then scored 34 seconds later on a rebound in the left circle to make it 4-1.
“I don’t think it was the game we were hoping for or expected of ourselves,” the New Jersey defenseman said. Ryan Graves said. “Just not the start we’re looking for, and overall, we managed the puck poorly and gave up a lot of chances. We didn’t create energy the way we should.”
Vanecek was pulled after allowing the goal to Wahlstrom.
“It’s definitely not on him,” Hischier said. “We didn’t help him enough tonight, and I think it was just more for a momentum change to get something going with the team.”
Video: NYI@NJD: Lee gets last second goal
Dawson Mercer got the Devils to within 4-2 at 6:03 when he finished off a 2-on-1 with Hughes near the left post.
Nelson scored a power-play goal to make it 5-2 at 16:47, and Clutterbuck converted from the left circle following a giveaway by the Devils to extend it to 6-2 at 1:00 of the third period.
Tomas Tatar made it 6-3 at 2:30 when he shot five-hole through a screen.
Hughes cut it to 6-4 at 13:39 with another goal through traffic as Schmid pulled for the extra skater. New Jersey played the final 7:36 of the third period with the goalie pulled.
“You got to throw everything you have up front, and that’s what we did and we got one, but needed two more,” Hischier said. “In the end, we lost the hockey game. Now we get some rest and move forward.”
NOTES: There was no update on New York forward Anthony Beauvillier, who sustained an upper-body injury at 9:02 of the first period. … Hughes, who led all skaters in ice time (26:01), played the final 6:02. It is the longest shift since the NHL began tracking the stat in 2009-10. He also has 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in a seven-game point streak. … New Jersey forward Jesper Brattand defensemen Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton each had two assists.
.