Islanders 3, Devils 1: Josh Bailey and defenseman Travis Hamonic scored first-period goals and visiting New York went on to post its fourth win in five games.
John Tavares added a power-play tally in the third, Frans Nielsen notched two assists and Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves for the Islanders, who completed a 3-1-0 road trip and improved to 11-5-1 away from home.
Alexei Ponikarovsky scored and Martin Brodeur turned aside 18 shots for New Jersey, which is winless in its last four (0-1-3).
It took only 52 seconds for New York to get on the board as Nielsen made a pass from the right faceoff circle during a 2-on-1 rush to Bailey, who backhanded the puck past Brodeur. Hamonic made it 2-0 at 7:14, when he beat Brodeur to the glove side from above the right circle.
Ponikarovsky halved the deficit 8:01 into the second as he received a feed from Patrik Elias and slid a backhander between Nabokov’s pads from the doorstep. But Tavares scored his 22nd goal at 9:13 of the third to restore the two-goal advantage, and the Islanders maintained control the rest of the way.
GAME NOTEBOOK: New Jersey had earned at least one point in five consecutive games (2-0-3). … Brodeur lost in regulation for just the second time in his last 13 decisions (7-2-4). … The Islanders went 3-2-0 in the season series, winning both of their visits to New Jersey. … Devils RW Dainius Zubrus returned to the lineup following left wrist surgery and was minus-1 in 14:14 of ice time. Zubrus had not played since Feb. 5.
