The newly-introduced sound of cheers was warranted.
The East Division-leading Islanders spent the first two periods thoroughly outplaying the Devils and won, 5-3, on Thursday night in front of 1,000 Northwell Health front-line workers and their families, the first fans at Nassau Coliseum since March 7, 2020.
The only downer was the potential long-term loss of ironman captain Anders Lee, who suffered an apparent right-leg injury in the first period.
Rookie Ilya Sorokin faced just 12 shots through the first two periods before yielding goals within 40 seconds early in the third period.
Still, the Islanders (17-6-4) concluded a five-game homestand on a seven-game winning streak and an 9-0-1 streak overall. They are 12-0-2 at home and now 1-0-0 in front of their fans.
"Whether it’s 10 fans, or 1,000 fans, or 15,000 fans, it’s just nice to have some people in the building and hear some voices," Mathew Barzal said before the game.
The Islanders’ first game in front of fans — a sellout of 1,800 — was a 2-1 win at Prudential Center on March 2 as the Devils opened their doors for the first time to a crowd limited to 10% of that building’s capacity.
Their first game in front of paying season-ticket holders will be next Thursday against the Flyers. The Coliseum is also allowed to host at 10% of capacity so 1,391 tickets were made available.
But the chance to first play in front of the Northwell Health front-line workers was important to the Islanders.
"Extremely special," defenseman Nick Leddy said. "The biggest thing is I just want to say thank you to them for their dedication, hard work and the risk they’ve taken for the last year. I know me and the team really appreciate it for sure."
The Islanders clearly seemed energized with fans in the stands, jumping to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period.
Matt Martin’s blue-line shot made it 1-0 at 3:15 as Cal Clutterbuck, creating a screen in front, seemed to tip the puck through defenseman Ty Smith’s legs to beat goalie Mackenzie Blackwood (29 saves).
Defenseman Adam Pelech pushed it to 2-0 at 9:54 with a wrist shot from the left point that was helped with Devils defenseman Dmitry Kulikov inadvertently tripping his goalie after they clipped skates.
Lee, playing in his 295th straight game, the eighth longest active streak in the NHL and the third longest in Islanders’ team history, exited at 12:56 after Pavel Zacha fell over his extended right leg as he drove toward the Islanders’ net. Lee needed help getting off the ice and to limp to the Islanders’ room.
His loss didn’t slow the Islanders, who outshot the Devils, 17-5, in the second period as they extended their lead to 4-0.
Defenseman Noah Dobson was credited with the third goal at 14:05, which Devils defenseman Damon Severson actually knocked into the net past a prone Blackwood. Devils defenseman Sami Vatanen pushed rookie Oliver Wahlstrom over the goalie and the Devils lost the challenge of goalie interference.
Josh Bailey, robbed by Blackwood’s left toe save at 1:04 of the second period, made it 4-0 at 17:13 as he was left open off the right post.
The Devils did halve the Islanders’ lead as Janne Kuokkanen chipped it in at 3:23 of the third period and Mikhail Maltsev’s innocent backhander from the right circle slipped past Sorokin (18 saves) at 4:03. But the Islanders made it 5-2 just 41 seconds later as defenseman Ryan Pulock found Brock Nelson open at the right post. Jack Hughes’ backhander at the crease ended the scoring at 15:52.
The teams also play Saturday and Sunday in New Jersey.
