Slow start dooms Islanders in loss to Devils

In a battle of the bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Devils showed a glimpse of what could have been for their underachieving squad, toppling the Islanders, 5-2, in yesterday's Martin Luther King Day matinee at Nassau Coliseum.

The Islanders rolled over in the first period for yet another poor start. They have surrendered the first goal in seven straight games.

And though the Islanders rallied briefly from a 3-0 hole with two quick strikes in the second and appeared to gain some traction before PA Parenteau's goal was disallowed, the Devils shut the door with another pair later in the second.

"Last game, we had a good start. But the last four of five before that, we didn't come out hard enough," Parenteau said. "And that's been our problem lately. We have to fix that because it's too important in this league."

In his fourth NHL start, rookie goaltender Kevin Poulin gave up two goals in the first 5:22 of play.

Vladimir Zharkov poked in a rebound at 4:25 for his first NHL goal, and 57 seconds later, the Devils took a 2-0 lead on Ilya Kovalchuk's one-timer from the left circle, his fifth power-play goal of the season. Mattias Tedenby's fifth goal of the season at 6:40 of the second period put the Devils up 3-0.

"They had a lot of shots in the first five minutes. They were like a torpedo out there," Poulin said.

Surprisingly, Poulin was backed up by Nathan Lawson instead of Rick DiPietro. DiPietro, who suffered a groin strain two weeks ago, returned Saturday from a five-game absence to secure the Islanders' 5-3 win with a 40-save performance against the Sabres.

The Islanders responded with two goals midway through the second. Blake Comeau slipped a pass in front to Parenteau, who scored his 11th at 10:56. Fifty-four seconds later, Michael Grabner scored in his second straight game, beating Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur from the slot to cut New Jersey's lead to 3-2.

But just as they had done in the first period, the Devils beat Poulin for two quick goals late in the second, by Rod Pelley and Dainius Zubrus.

Parenteau appeared to score his second goal toward the end of the period, but it was waved off when a review showed Grabner barreling into Brodeur before the goal was scored.

As incensed as Brodeur was after the play, Islanders coach Jack Capuano and his players seemed equally angry when the goal was overruled since Grabner was pushed into Brodeur by Devils defenseman Mark Fayne.

"I don't think it should've been called off," Parenteau said. "I think [the official] thought Brodeur got pushed by Grabner, but you can see on the replay that [Grabner] got pushed by the Devils player."

Grabner said: "I went to the net . . . got a push from behind, collided with the goalie. The ref next to the goal said it was a goal, so I think he had the best view. I'm pretty sure he had a nice view of it, but it is what it is and we have to move on."