Abdelkader, DeKeyser Help Red Wings Beat Islanders, 4-2
VIN A. CHERWOO, AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Abdelkader and Danny DeKeyser scored 1:11 apart in the second period to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Monday night.
Brad Richards scored in the first period and Petr Mrazek stopped 27 shots to give the Red Wings their second win in five games (2-2-1). Luke Glendenning added an empty-netter in the final minute to seal Detroit's third win in the last 11 meetings (3-6-2) against the Islanders.
Brock Nelson and Mikhail Grabovski scored for New York, and Jaroslav Halak had 22 saves while the Islanders lost in regulation for the first time in five games (3-1-1).
Both teams were playing for the last time before the All-Star Game this weekend in Nashville, Tennessee.
With the score tied 1-1 in the second, Abdelkader nearly put Detroit ahead when he came around from behind the goal, but his wraparound attempt on the right side was stuffed by Halak 7:10 into the period.
Abdelkader did put the Red Wings ahead about 6 1/2 minutes later. Dylan Larkin brought the puck across the blue line and passed it across to Henrik Zetterberg, who sent it to Abdelkader. He sent a slap shot from the right side past Halak for his 14th of the season.
DeKeyser made it 3-1 with 5:20 left. He skated across the blue line, had his first attempt blocked, got the rebound and wristed it past Halak for his sixth goal.
Grabovski pulled New York within one when he skated down the middle on a breakaway and wristed the puck into the top right corner with 4:48 remaining in regulation. The Islanders have outscored opponents 10-1 in the third period over their last five games.
The Islanders outshot the Red Wings 11-7 in a fast-paced first period. Neither goalie was tested in the first few minutes until Riley Sheahan came in on a 2-on-1 and had his wrist shot stopped by Halak 3:07 in. Less than 30 seconds later, Anders Lee had a breakaway and tried to backhand it through Mrazek's feet, but the goalie denied the attempt.
Richards got Detroit on the scoreboard first with a power-play goal about 30 seconds after Nelson was sent off for hooking Larkin, a 19-year-old rookie. Darren Helm was battling Travis Hamonic for the puck behind the net when Nikolay Kulemin came over and tried to clear it. Instead, it went to Richards, and he whacked the bouncing puck past Halak with just over 9 minutes left in the opening period. It was Richards' fifth of the season.
Nelson tied it for the Islanders about 5 1/2 minutes later. John Tavares got control of a loose puck near the left boards in the offensive zone, skated toward the net and sent a pass across to Nelson, who sent a slap shot past Mrazek for his team-leading 19th goal of the season.
Nelson has five goals and an assist in his last five games.
NOTES: The Red Wings recalled F Travis Tangradi and D Nick Jensen from Grand Rapids of the AHL during the weekend, and assigned F Joakim Andersson to the Griffins. Jensen, D Niklas Kronwall and LW Teemu Pulkkinen were scratched for this game. ... Richards' goal was just the fifth power-play goal the Islanders allowed in 77 chances over the last 25 games. New York had killed off all 22 penalties over its previous six games. ... Nelson is one goal away from matching his career high set last year in his second season in the NHL. He is also three points away from reaching 100 for his career. ... New York scratched RW Steve Bernier, D Scott Mayfield. ... The Islanders are still without D Johnny Boychuk, who hasn't played since Dec.31 due to an upper-body injury.
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