Recap: Islanders 2, Devils 1

The New York Islanders scored a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, but lost John Tavares late in the third period.
Tavares' foot caught the net behind the Devils goal and the Islanders captain fell awkwardly to the ice before being helped back to the Islanders' locker room. Tavares left the game with 3:14 to play in the third and Interim Coach Doug Weight said he'll be re-evaluated on Saturday.

"It didn't look great, he caught his foot on the back of the net and jutted out there," Weight said. "Obviously lower body. I'm always hopeful, but I'll let these guys look at it and go from there."
Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Islanders, while Jaroslav Halak made 26 saves for the win. The victory snapped the Islanders' three-game losing streak and pocketed a pair of crucial points as the Islanders (84 points) look to continue a playoff push.

As of Friday's final horn, the Islanders were four points back of the Boston Bruins (88 points) for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
"We needed a win and we bounced back in a good way and played a strong 60 minutes," Beauvillier said. "We kept it simple. Just put more pucks on net and it paid off tonight."
Lee got the Islanders started off on the right foot, parking himself in front of the net and backhanding a shot under Keith Kinkaid's pad for the opening goal at 5:44 in the first. Lee's team-leading 29th was a power-play goal, part of a season-high nine power plays for the Islanders.

Despite going 1-for-9 with the man advantage - including a trio of five-on-three's - the Islanders were able to dictate where and how the game was played for long stretches. As a result, the Devils only managed a handful of chances in the opening 40 minutes.
"We just kept them to the outside for the most part," Lee said. "We limited them as much as we could and kept the shot totals low and Jaro played a great game."
Halak was sharp when he had to be on Friday, stopping 26-of-27 shots. His best save came late in the second period, stretching over to stop John Moore's cross-crease one-timer a minute before a Beauvillier beauty made it 2-0.

Beauvillier's goal was his ninth of the season, taking a pass from fellow rookie Josh Ho-Sang and sniping Kinkaid high short side from near the top of the circle.
The Devils made a third period push, with Adam Henrique's power-play goal making it a 2-1 game with 8:37 to play. That was as close as the Devils came, with the Islanders holding on for the win.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head to Buffalo for a Sunday afternoon tilt with the Sabres. Puck drop is at 3 p.m.