5 Takeaways: Bellows Leads Islanders to 3-2 Comeback Win vs Devils

Eight straight.
The New York Islanders extended their winning streak to eight games on Saturday, using a third period comeback to upend the New Jersey Devils 3-2 at Prudential Center.
Kieffer Bellows scored the game-tying and game-winning goals 3:11 apart, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead in the final frame. Oliver Wahlstrom also scored for the Islanders while Semyon Varlamov stopped 26-of-28 shots. Pavel Zacha and Janne Kuokkanen scored for New Jersey, who lost their 10th-straight game on home ice, while Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 26-fo-29 shots.
With the win, the Islanders also extended their point streak to 11 games (10-0-1) and hit the halfway point of the season with an 18-6-4 record. Their 40 points are tied with Toronto, Tampa Bay and Florida for the league lead.
Here are five takeaways from The Rock.

BELLOWS SCORES TWO BIG GOALS IN RETURN TO LINEUP:

With Anders Lee out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, it was another Edina, MN native who stepped into his spot in the lineup.
Kieffer Bellows got the first crack to skate with Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle and made the most of it, scoring a pair of big goals to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead in the third period.
"I just wanted to go out there, work hard, grind down low, and be responsible," Bellows said of stepping into Lee's spot. "It was a good team effort there to get the win. That's the most important."
Bellows' first goal of the night tied the score 2-2 at 1:59 of the third period, as he snapped a shot blocker side on Blackwood. With Barzal drawing the attention of two Devils defenseman, Bellows went undetected in the slot and had all sorts of time and space to release his heavy shot.
The 22-year-old followed it up 3:11 later with a terrific individual effort, coming down the wall and curling off the goal line to deposit the puck around Blackwood.

"He's got such a good release," Barzal said of Bellows. "I gave him that puck on the partial breakaway and figured it was going to be in the back of the net, so trying to play to his strengths and get used to each other. It could be a good mix."
The goals were Bellows first and second of the season, as he was playing in his first game since Feb. 18 and only his second since Jan. 30. Head Coach Barry Trotz said he had a candid talk with Bellows after his last outing, and that he liked the youngster's response in practice over the past few weeks.
"We talked about why he came out of the lineup and I said what you do from this moment on will decide how successful you'll be in your next opportunity," Trotz said. "I told him I don't know when that opportunity is going to come, but when it does come you have to be ready."
The plum assignment alongside Barzal and Eberle represented a big opportunity for the 2016 first-round pick to gain some traction and for a night, he was able to take advantage.
"He's trying to make a statement," Trotz said. "He sees an opportunity and sees it for one game, let's see if he can do it again. I was impressed with his positional play and the goals he scored. That line was really good tonight."

ISLES GET FIRST GLIMPSE OF LIFE WITHOUT ANDERS LEE:

The Islanders got their first glimpse at life without Anders Lee on Saturday, playing without the big-bodied winger for the first time in 296 games.
Bellows drew into the lineup in Lee's absence and skated alongside Barzal and Eberle and took net-front duties on the power play, but as Barry Trotz promised, it would be a team effort to compensate for the captain's loss.
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Trotz did a little plug-and-play, putting JG Pageau with Barzal and Eberle for a defensive zone draw with a minute to play in the first period in a 1-1 game, though Bellows was out late to protect a 3-2 lead. While it took the Islanders some time to find their sea legs and rhythm, the committee approach is 1-0 to start.
"We're all going to have to pull on the rope more, and tonight we did," Scott Mayfield said.

AFTER SLOW START, ISLES DIG IN FOR TWO POINTS:

While the Islanders were able to pick up a pair of points, it wasn't all smooth sailing through Saturday's contest.
New Jersey got on the board first on Saturday, as Pavel Zacha beat Semyon Varlamov with a long-range wrist shot to the stick side at 6:37 of the first.
The Islanders outshot the Devils 13-6 (shot attempts were closer at 22-19 Islanders) but that betrayed the flow of the period, which saw the Islanders a little loose in their own end and concede some high-danger chances to the Devils. Wahlstrom's late tally sent the teams into the intermission tied 1-1.
New Jersey had a pair of high-danger chances to start the second and parlayed it into a 2-1 lead at 1:04. Varlamov, who got better as the game wore on, was able to turn aside the first chance, getting over to rob Damon Severson on a backdoor play (and subsequent rebound) but the Devils broke through shortly after.
Yegor Sharangovich put a shot off the post with Janne Kuokkanen crashing the net and poking the puck over the line.
New Jersey wound up outshooting the Islanders 18-9 in the middle frame. Trotz said he didn't like his teams battle level through two periods and credited a strong showing from Varlamov as the difference early.
That said, the Isles flipped the script in the third, jumping out to a 7-0 shot advantage to start the period, including the Bellows goals and locked it down from there, holding the Devils to four shots in the final period.
"We could have easily lost that game. I didn't like our battle tonight for the first two periods," Trotz said. "I liked our ability to dig in and even when we're not at our best find a way to win."

WAHLSTROM SCORES FIFTH:

Oliver Wahlstrom scored his fifth goal of the season on Saturday night, tying the score 1-1 at 17:58. Wahlstrom beat Mackenzie Blackwood blocker side with a hard wrister, similar to the goal he scored last time he was in Prudential Center. Wahlstrom's tally snapped a five-game goal drought for the rookie, who now has 10 points (5G, 5A) in 21 games this season.

Video: NYI 3 vs NJD 2: Barry Trotz

POWER PLAY STRUGGLES IN WIN:

The Islanders power play went 0-for-4 on Saturday, making the Islanders 0-for-9 in their two matchups against New Jersey's 31st-ranked penalty kill.
The power play generated nine shots on their four opportunities, but that largely came on the first two attempts. The Islanders had back-to-back power plays late in the second period, but couldn't seemingly find an extende rhythm. Anthony Beauvillier had the Islanders best chance, one-timing a nice cross-ice feed from Barzal, but that's as close as they'd come.
Trotz voiced his displeasure with the man advantage in the second period and said he'd like to see his team work the puck to Ryan Pulock to utilize the defenseman's booming shot.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders and Devils complete the trifecta tomorrow, as they meet for a third-straight game. Puck drop from Prudential Center goes at 5 p.m.