Islanders 2, Devils 1: Late Pelech goal starts break on a high

The Islanders and Devils entered the Christmas break with a tight, cagey match that Adam Pelech tipped in the Isles’ favor with a tiebreaking goal with 1:15 left in regulation.

There were no penalties as the refs put their whistles away, which may have favored the Islanders at the pivotal moment: on another night, you could totally see Scott Mayfield receiving a tripping call as he battled in the left corner of the Isles zone on the change of possession that led to Pelech’s winning goal.

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That sequence started with a near-odd-man rush where Anders Lee set up Simon Holmstrom, who shot wide. An alert Pelech pinched in to fire the puck after it caromed off the end boards, catching Jacob Markstrom by surprise.

Both Markstrom and David Rittich had solid games when called upon, as the Isles had long stretches of really strong play and forechecking interrupted by dangerous counterattacks from New Jersey.

Rittich received the first star and got the chance to greet Isles fans via Shannon Hogan. One of his best moments was stopping a third-period breakaway that led to him losing a skate blade and sledding himself to the bench on one skate like he’s done it before.

His counterpart was not so graceful on the other Isles goal. Markstrom had trouble playing the puck all night, and that proved costly in the second period when he vacated his net and delivered the puck to Simon Holmstrom, who easily put it in the empty net to tie it at 1-1.

Though that tying goal came on a gift, it felt earned as the second period was by far the Islanders’ best. In the third, while the Isles had several stretches of sustained possession, they didn’t generate the scary chances the Devils did to earn Rittich the game honors.

For Rittich, it’s another big moment as he had consecutive starts for the first time with the Islanders. It cannot be overstated how important his performance has been in providing consistent, solid backup play to allow Ilya Sorokin rest — particularly for situations like now, when Sorokin is trying to rest a nagging injury.

In other notes: Cal Ritchie had an injury scare when he left the ice after a hit, but he was back and performed fine. Also, the club noted this was just the seventh time in franchise history they played a game where neither team was penalized. Merry Christmas, cretins.

Up Next

The whole league is now off for three days, and the Islanders return to action on Saturday when they host the Rangers.

With the win, the Islanders climb back into third in the Metro and put three points between them and the Devils.