GAME STORY: Islanders 5, Devils 3

UNIONDALE, NY - For the second straight game, the Devils opened the third period with a rally, scoring two quick goals and another late but it wasn't enough to close the gap against the NHL's best home team as the Islanders held on for a 5-3 win on Thursday night.

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The Devils return home to face these same Islanders on Saturday night. You can watch on MSG and listen on the Devils Hockey Network,
including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com.
Game time is 7:08 PM ET.
"If you get behind the eight-ball each game, it's going to make it very hard on this group," said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff on a team that fell behind early.
Matt Martin's wrist shot eluded Mackenzie Blackwood to put the Islanders on the board first in the opening minutes.
"Our defense has to do a better job. We have to do a better job of boxing players out. They established position early, our D bumped players into our goaltender which affected a couple of the goals. It's a small detail we've got to take care of," Ruff continued.
Adam Pelech's shot from the left point beat a screened Blackwood to double New York's lead midway through the first.
"We weren't executing on our breakouts," said Kyle Palmieri. "We were standing around. I was guilty of it on the second goal, not getting out to my point man or getting a block on the shot. The team as a whole stood around a lot in the first 40 minutes. We played better in the third but trying to come back on a team like that which knows how to win is a difficult thing to do.
"It was a similar situation that we found ourselves in Washington the other day. We know what we're capable of when we're moving fast and competing on the pucks. Both games, the other team maybe took their foot off the gas and we played an effecitve style of hockey in the last two third periods. We have to find a way to have it translate into the start (of games)."
Ty Smith was sent off for interference late in the period, giving the first power play of the game to the Islanders but Devils were able to kill it off.
After one, shots on goal were 8-6 for the Islanders.
Blackwood dove across to make a nice save on Josh Bailey early in the second. Blackwood did a good job withstanding the heavy Islanders pressure. Shots in the second were 8-2 for the Isles almost six minutes in.
The Islanders looked to have scored their third of the night with less than six minutes to play in the period. Noah Dobson blasted a shot from the point. Oliver Wahlstrom then bowled over Blackwood and as he was falling, Damon Severson accidentally tipped the puck into the net.
The Devils challenged the play for goaltender intererence and it was ruled that Sami Vatanen pushed Wahlstrom into Blackwood. Result was a penalty on the Devils and a goal by the Islanders.
"I saw it as the worst call I've probably made, looking at it," Ruff said of the challenge. "I was frustrated with the way we were playing but I wanted to support our goaltender. I told the guys we're probably going to have to kill a penalty. I called it for (that) one reason."
New York made it a 4-0 game when Josh Bailey scored on a wrist shot about a minute after the penalty expired.
After two, shots on goal were 24-10 for the Islanders.
4:23 into the third, Ilya Sorokin stretched to stop the initial point shot from P.K. Subban but Janne Kuokkanen chipped the rebound over the Islanders goaltender to get the Devils on the board at 4-1.
"Kuokkanen's play was fabulous," Ruff stated. "Battled a guy, one-handed swing."
Forty seconds later, Mikhail Maltsev's backhand from the right circle fooled Sorokin to draw the Devils within two.
"It started with getting pucks to the net," said Ruff. "Not a lot of opportunities early in the game. When your energy is low, you don't skate well. We let them come right at us."
After the goal, Islanders head coach Barry Trotz called a time out and it appeared to have worked. Forty-one seconds after Maltsev's goal. Ryan Pulock centered the puck to Brock Nelson who put the puck in from the top of the crease.
Jack Hughes picked up the puck in front of the net and backhanded the puck in while diving to draw the Devils back within a pair with just over four minutes to play, making it a 5-3 final.
"Jack's play. Instead of going around the outside, he went into the hole. Andreas made a good play and we ended up scoring a goal," Ruff noted.
"If you look at the goals we scored, they were all inside. We were happy to stay outside but in between periods I said we've got to get inside."