The Islanders have preached patience and perspective in the wake of losses this season. And they're continuing to be rewarded.
After two bad defeats in Western Canada, the Islanders bounced back on Friday night, beating the Devils, 3-2 in overtime, at the sold-out Prudential Center. John Tavares made a great play three minutes into the extra period, when he stripped defenseman Adam Larsson and buried the game-winner over Keith Kinkaid's blocker.
"When you play against a division opponent, it's a four-point swing," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said before the game. "For us, it's a matter of staying to our system, and understanding our work ethic is going to dictate the scoreboard.
"We don't ever want to make games about who we're playing. We just want to make it the task at hand. That's what this team has done all year."
The Islanders (27-13-1) were coming off consecutive defeats, in Edmonton and Vancouver, both the result of turnover-laden performances. They were examples of how small mistakes can completely undercut decent all-around performances.
The Devils (15-21-8) were coming off a bad 3-0 drubbing in Boston on Thursday night. When New Jersey general manager/coach coordinator Lou Lamoriello was asked what could be taken from that game, he simply said, "Not much.
"When you watch it, there were a lot of areas that we should not feel good about," Lamoriello said Friday afternoon. "But right now, that's yesterday."
The Islanders had tied Friday's game, 1-1, just 1:02 into the third period, when Josh Bailey was bumped up to the top line and tipped in a Calvin de Haan point shot. But that tie lasted about six minutes, until Isles goalie Jaroslav Halak strolled out of his net and waited for the puck — and was beaten to the spot by Adam Henrique, who found Scott Gomez in front for an empty-netter, giving the Devils a 2-1 lead.
Yet Tavares managed to make a sneaky little play with just over six minutes remaining in regulation, getting a puck near the goal line-extended and banking it in off Kinkaid's pads to tie it at 2. Tavares had just made a great no-look pass to Kyle Okposo, who badly missed the net as an Islanders power play was expiring.
Even though the Islanders held the play for most of the first two periods, they were hardly opportunistic and couldn't beat Kinkaid. At 11:57 of the second, Okposo had lost his stick and couldn't clear the puck with a kick. The play ended with Travis Zajac and Patrik Elias executing a sweet give-and-go, with Zajac netting his seventh of the season on a quick wrist shot, taking the 1-0 New Jersey lead into the third.
The first period was tepid and relatively sloppy from both teams, as the Islanders outshot the Devils, 7-2, in a scoreless 20 minutes. Isles forward Mikhail Grabovski, who started on the top line with Tavares and Okposo, left for the locker room after blocking a shot with about three minutes remaining. Grabovski returned for the start of the second, but left midway through and did not return, the team citing a "lower-body injury."
It turns out that the Islanders had their hands full after all.
"We want to be tough to play against," Capuano had said. "In our conference, every night it's a battle."
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