The New Jersey Devils have now dropped two of their last three games in regulation after a 5-1 defeat to the New York Islanders on Saturday night at the Nassau Coliseum.
John Tavares scored three goals and assisted on another to lead New York to the victory. Marek Zidlicky scored the lone goal for New Jersey on a power play in the third period. Ilya Kovalchuk picked up his 800th career NHL point by assisting on the goal.
Johan Hedberg made 28 saves for New Jersey in the loss. He drops to 2-1-1 on the season.
The Devils coaching staff don't seem concerned by the team's drop in play as of late and are looking to bounce back quickly in their next game.
"What, first place (in the Eastern Conference)?" New Jersey coach Pete DeBoer said sarcastically when he was asked if he was worried about the losses. "No one likes to lose, but you're going to lose some games. There (are) no easy stretches this season and we're going to bounce back Monday afternoon (at home against the Ottawa Senators)."
It was a tightly contested goaltending showdown early with both goalies making big saves and the two teams skating to a 0-0 deadlock after one period of play. The Islanders capitalized on several mistakes and undisciplined play by New Jersey in the second period and took a 3-0 lead to the locker room. They would add two more in the third to finish with the 5-1 victory.
New York went 3 for 6 on the power play, while New Jersey was 1 for 4 on the man advantage, clearly struggling on the penalty kill and costing them the game.
"Bottom line, our (penalty kill) wasn't good enough. That's the difference in the game," Devils captain Bryce Salvador said. "Our PK wasn't sharp. Usually, PK's are our strength. They got a couple big power-play goals, bottom line. If our PK does the job, it's a different game. The Islanders thrive on the special teams and our PK just wasn't up to it tonight.
"In a game like tonight, our PK has to come out and do the job and we didn't get it done."
The Devils look to bounce back as they return to the Prudential Center for a 1 p.m. President's Day matinee game on Monday when the Ottawa Senators come to town.
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