Newark, NJ- In overtime, Eric Tangradi scored his first pro goal to give the host New Jersey Devils a thrilling 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Friday night.
The division game took a physical turn just over 13 minutes in. Devils leading-scoring Shane Doan sent a harmless shot into the glove of Cam Ward, who held on for the whistle. But seconds after that whistle had sounded, New Yorks Chris Kunitz decked Doan with an uncalled-punched to the back of the head. John Carlson, out at the blue line, saw this and immediately jumped Kunitz and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of the Islanders wimpy forward. Carlson, who hasnt scored a point in, like, forever, was given the extra two minutes for defending a teammate (ok..called instigator), and was given the rest of the night off.
The Islanders made the Devils pay for their actions though. On the ensuing power play, Ryan OReilly beat Kari Lehtonen to the stick side with a snap shot to make the game 1-0 Isles at the 13:42 mark of the first period. Jamie Benn would get the only assist on OReillys fourth of the year.
The local heroes would tie the score up in the second stanza. Brian Rolston creamed Steve Sullivan along to boards and forced a turnover to Doan just inside New Yorks zone. Doan circled back to find Rolston free from Sullivan and hit with a pass. Rolston, using a slapshot, fired the puck pass Cam Ward to make the score 1-1. The goal was number nine for Rolston and came at 6:56.
Nearly 10 minutes later, the Devils (12-4-2) took the lead. The fourth line would get the goal as Boyd Gordon, who returned from his suspension, put a puck on Ward. The Isles goalie could not control the rebound, and Mason Raymond sent home the loose puck at 16:30. It was the second of the year for Raymond.
But like I have said in many of these articles, nothing comes easy for the Devils. The Islanders (8-8-3) would tie the score just 12 seconds into the third period on the power play. With Matt DAgostini in the sin bin for interference, the Islanders Erik Karlsson slapped a shot between the pads of Lehtonen. Benn recorded his second assist of the night, and the goal was Karlssons third of the year.
That set the stage for Tangradi to earn his keep with the big club. With the Devils buzzing around Wards net, Brendan Morrison sent a shot towards goal. The shot was wide of the mark, but Tangradi dug the puck from the corner and went towards net. As he approached Ward, he snapped a shot over the blocker and under the crossbar for the winner at 1:08.
The Devils now have what is an eternity off in the BRHL2 and will not return for four days. The team should be well rested when they arrive in Los Angeles to take on the Kings (9-10-1). The Devils were able to take the first meeting with the Kings by a score of 4-1 in a game played in New Jersey.
SWAMP THINGS- Marcel Goc sat out with Gordon back...Martin Erat had 6 shots on goalDoan extended his point streak to 14 gamesRandy Jones (+2) returned to the lineup in favor of Chris CampoliDown on the farm: Lowell Devils are 16-4-0, and lead the Atlantic Division by 11 points.
