Inland Waterways » a 2-1 defeat to the also-ran New York Islanders

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Once the game goes to a shootout, the New Jersey Devils are already a beaten team. They have been pushed past overtime 10 times this season, and have lost every one of the tiebreakers. The latest, a 2-1 defeat to the also-ran New York Islanders on Saturday night, pushed the Devils closer to missing the playoffs. "Even if we were just .500 on those, wed have an extra four or five points and we wouldnt be in this situation," said forward Patrik Elias, whose miss in the second round ended the game. Not only arent the Devils coming out on top, they are having trouble scoring. Only once in 30 shootout tries this season have they managed a goal. In seven of the 10 shootouts, they were behind 1-0 before their first attempt. That was the case again Saturday when Frans Nielsen started with a goal, and Brock Nelson added one in the second round. New Jersey has lost 14 consecutive shootouts, including two in the past two games. "Were at the point we can pretty much try everything because what were doing is not working," forward Damien Brunner said. "Maybe we have to start throwing some jokes around on the bench. It cant get any worse." Nielsen scored in the second period, when a puck struck Elias in the pants and caromed in to give the Islanders a brief 1-0 lead. Cory Schneider played well otherwise and made 19 saves, but the Devils are five points below the wild-card cutoff with eight games left and will have to jump over several teams. "We had a chance to actually get ourselves back in the race," he said of the Devils, 2-4-2 in their past eight. "We got a point, but if we had gotten two extra points the past two wed really be making noise. "I dont know if its in our heads or what. There is no real point in elaborating. Its just not good enough." The Islanders are 5-2-1 in the last eight games, relishing the role of late-season spoilers. "It was a fun game to play," Nielsen said. "Were a young team and were working hard." In this shootout, New Yorks Anders Nilsson turned aside Adam Henrique, who scored in regulation, and then Elias to win it. Nilsson made 23 traditional saves. New Jersey closed the gap in shots during the second and erased its deficit on Henriques career-high 25th goal with 9:40 left. Henrique has a goal in back-to-back games following a seven-game drought. The Islanders had gone ahead 2:12 into the second. Nielsen drove to the net, and defenceman Peter Harrold tried to sweep away the puck but knocked it in off teammate Elias for Nielsens 23rd goal. "It hit me somewhere in the pants," Elias said. "A little unlucky there. I knew I was in trouble." The Devils nearly got even sooner when Mark Fayne fired a hard shot from the blue line that Nilsson smothered in his midsection at 4:23. It was New Jerseys third shot of the second, one more than in the first. Nielsen almost struck again when he came in on a short-handed breakaway with 6:47 left in the second. He drew a slashing penalty, but New York couldnt capitalize. The Islanders were outshot 11-7 in the frame, yet killed three Devils power plays. New Jersey had a 7-3 shots advantage in the uneventful and scoreless third period and 4-1 in overtime. The Islanders had only 11 shots after the first period. They came out aggressively early and finished checks in all three zones in the first, including big hits by Colin McDonald, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck that riled up the crowd. Mike Halmo also threw his body around, and then ripped a shot that Schneider snagged with his glove to keep the game scoreless with 4:36 left. That gave New York a 7-2 edge in shots. "The first period was a disaster," Brunner said, "but then we got better." When Ryan Carter got a hit in, he was called for boarding for drilling Islanders forward Johan Sundstrom from behind in front of the penalty box with 4:15 to go. The Islanders outshot the Devils 9-2 in the first and outhit them 19-4 -- with Anders Lee having four. "Were battling and working extremely hard," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. "I dont think we gave them much." NOTES: The Devils matched their season low with the two-shot first period. ... Steve Bernier was in the New Jersey lineup after being a healthy scratch the previous two games. ... Reid Boucher, now playing with AHL Albany, scored the Devils lone shootout goal this season. ... With Kyle Okposo missing his second straight game because of a lower-body injury, the Islanders had 10 rookies in the lineup. Cheap NBA Jerseys China . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April. Cheap Jerseys Authentic . In the last race before the Sochi Olympics, Bjoergen followed up her win in the 10-kilometre classical race on Saturday by beating World Cup sprint leader Denise Herrmann of Germany by 0.43 seconds for her fifth victory of the season. http://www.wholesalecheapjerseysauthentic.com/. Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. Cheap NFL Jerseys 2018 . Toronto dropped a 7-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday afternoon, with only a pair of late runs preventing a second straight shutout loss. Josh Willingham belted a two-run homer in the first inning and Kendrys Morales hit a bases-clearing double in the seventh as the Twins took the rubber game of the three-game series. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . TSN was honoured with several awards, with Rod Smith and James Duthie sharing the win for Best Sports Host for SportsCentre and the NHL: Season On The Brink coverage, respectively.LONDON -- Canadas Vasek Pospisil was given the No. 31 seed at Wimbledon on Thursday after Nicolas Almagro of Spain withdrew because of a left foot injury. Pospisil, from Vancouver, was originally unseeded. Almagro was given the No. 25 seed when the list of 32 seeded players was released earlier this weekk.dddddddddddd Russias Dmitry Tursunov will remain in the No. 32 position. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., is the No. 8 seed and Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., is the No. 13 womens seed. The draw for the Grand Slam tournament will take place Friday. The tournament begins Monday. ' ' '