Lee, Islanders rally for overtime win against Devils

NEWARK, N.J. -- Anders Lee scored with 51 seconds remaining in overtime to give the New York Islanders a 4-3 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

Lee scored in a 1-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday for the Islanders, who won back-to-back games and ended a stretch of seven in 12 days (4-3-0).
"We kind of stuck with it," Lee said. "It was an important back-to-back for us, and now we have a few days between games. But we needed to take care of business tonight. It's a tough building to come in and play, especially on a back-to-back.
"On the winner, I just kind of popped it out to (
Devon Toews
). He found me in the slot and I tried to use their defenseman as a bit of a screen."
WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Devils highlights]
Tom Kuhnhackl tied the game on a slap shot from the right point that deflected off Devils defenseman Damon Severson between the face-off circles at 14:14 of the third period.
"Being down late in the game, we knew to be aggressive on the forecheck," said Kuhnhackl, who has three goals in his past six games. "[Michael Dal Colle] did a great job of staying in there and made that play to the blue line and I just tried to put the puck to the net because [Derick Brassard] was by himself. It hit the defenseman's stick and went in, so a good bounce for us."

Casey Cizikas and Jordan Eberle also scored for New York (27-12-3). Thomas Greiss made 32 saves, including against Sami Vatanen on a 3-on-1 at 2:58 of overtime.
"We played a good game. especially with the back-to-back," said Greiss, who started for the first time in six games. "We had energy, pressed a lot and had a lot of shots on net and got good looks.
"On the 3-on-1, I just watched the puck and prayed for the best."
Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri each had a goal and an assist, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 37 saves for New Jersey (15-20-7).
"It's overtime, you want to win the game," Hischier said. "You want to get that second point. We had a couple of chances. The difference is they buried one."

Cizikas gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot from the slot at 3:38 of the first period. It was his third goal in five games.
"We needed a bounce and got a couple tonight with Casey leading us off," Lee said. "That was great, and it took the pressure off a little bit. We can then go out and play with the lead."
P.K. Subban tied it 1-1 when he scored on a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle at 8:37. Eberle gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 10:17 by beating Blackwood from the slot after intercepting Severson's pass from behind the Devils net. It was Eberle's first goal in 11 games.

Hischier tied it 2-2 on a backhand at 18:24 of the second period, and Palmieri's power-play goal at 11:55 of the third period gave the Devils a 3-2 lead. But Kuhnhackl tied it 3-3 with 5:46 remaining.
"I think we were all finding that energy in the depth of our legs," Lee said. "On these back-to-backs, a lot of it is mental and we talked about that a lot. We're geared up and ready to go, so it's just that mental side of it that you've got to grind through sometimes and we kind of did that a lot tonight."
The Devils defeated the Islanders 2-1 at Nassau Coliseum on Jan. 2.
"We knew after last week they were going to come in ready to go," Palmieri said. "It was a good, tough game. I think in the second period, they had the upper hand. The rest of the game was a good, hard competitive battle."

They said it

"I want a resilient team night in, night out, and I think we have been. There have not been many games in an 82-game schedule where we folded our tent. We stay in and fight and you saw that. You get tested in this game and if you stay with it, you get rewarded at the right times. The harder you work, the luckier you get." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz
"All around, guys have to have their heads up. We played a good enough game to win it. They just buried that one at the end, and that's the difference tonight." -- Devils center Nico Hischier

Need to know

The Islanders are 12-5-0 in their past 17 games against the Devils. ... Palmieri has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in his past 11 games. Hischier has eight points (four goals, four assists) in his past six. ... Blackwood lost teeth but remained in the game after taking a slap shot to the mask from Islanders defenseman Ryan Pulock at 19:28 of the second period.

What's next

Islanders: Host the Boston Bruins on Saturday (Barclays Center, 7 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG+, NESN, NHL.TV)
Devils: At the New York Rangers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, MSG, MSG+, NHL.TV)