Brock Nelson scored twice in the second period, as the New York Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils 5–1 Saturday night in the final regular season game at the Nassau Coliseum.
Matthew Barzal had a goal and an assist, and Jordan Eberle and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 shots to help the Islanders finish the three-game losing streak and secure their sixth regulation win in the last 23 matches.
The Islanders fell one point behind third-placed Boston in the East Division. The islanders visited the Bruins on Monday night. The Islanders will face either Pittsburgh or Washington in the first round of the playoffs.
Andreas Johnson scored for the Devils while McKenzie Blackwood scored 22 runs. The Devils lost just their second time in their last seven matches.
Eberle opened the scoring for the Islanders with just 2 minutes left in the first period. Barzal led the break across the blue line before orchestrating a give-and-take with Eberl, whose shot beat Blackwood on the short side and high. It was Eberle’s 16th goal of the season, a total over the previous year.
Miles Wood had a chance on a breakway to tie the game for the Devils, which was previously abandoned within a minute, but was unable to jam Sorokin’s previous puck.
The Devils had a 4-on-3 advantage due to a penalty haul early in the second period, but failed to capitalize on it. The Islanders ended their final home game of the season-to-2 on the penalty kill. New York’s home penalty kill season ranked second in the NHL since it began tracking the league in 1977–78, which began tracking the state in 1977–78, only 1998–99 Bruin (92.4%) I stood on top.
Johnson tied the game 1–1 for about 5 minutes in the second period for the Devils. Matt Tennyson’s pass from the back to the net got Johnson in the slot and he scored his fifth of the season – all of them on the road.
Nelson gave the Islanders a 2–1 lead during the second period. Nelson took advantage of the counterattack in front of the net just 15 seconds after Will Butcher was sent to the penalty box for hooking.
Nelson again scored 3:40 and later gave New York a two-goal advantage. Josh Bailey gets a counterattack and slaps Nelson on the slot, which kicks him off a breathtaking Blackwood for the 18th. It was Nelson’s second multi-goal game of the season. Bailey’s assist was his 349th for the Islanders, which earned him fifth place in the franchise list with John Tavarez.
The Islanders scored twice in the opening 37 seconds in the third period. Palmieri scored the first goal at 3:32 at Brexit, his first goal against his former team after being traded from New Jersey to New York last month. Barzal had a 2-on-1 break with Eberl, but chose 5–1 to shoot the puck himself for his 16th mai.
It was the Islanders’ 1,738th and final regular season game at the Nassau Coliseum. Beginning next season, the team is moving to the new UBS Arena in Belmont Park.
The Islanders played at the Nassau Coliseum from their inception in 1972 until they moved to the Barclays Center in 2015, returning to the Coliseum in 2018. New York finished 21-4-3 at home this season.
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