Devils goalie Jon Gillies allows a goal by Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech as Zach Parise of the Islanders and New Jersey’s Yegor Sharangovich battle in front during Thursday’s game in Elmont, New York. Adam Hunger/Associated Press
Former University of Southern Maine goaltender Kyle Shapiro was in uniform for the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night against the New York Islanders, serving as the backup to South Portland’s Jon Gillies after signing an amateur tryout contract while the team deals with coronavirus absences and injuries.
Gillies finished with 22 saves in New York’s 3-2 win. Mathew Barzal scored the winner with less than five minutes remaining.
Shapiro, a New Jersey native who played three seasons at USM from 2014-17, has been a regular emergency backup for the Devils while coaching junior hockey in New Jersey. The Devils are currently without goalies Mackenzie Blackwood and Akira Schmid, who are in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols. Former Lewiston Maineiacs goalie Jonathan Bernier is out for the season after undergoing hip surgery, and minor league goalie Nico Daws is also injured.
Gillies, who started the season in the ECHL with the Maine Mariners, has played in only two games for the Devils since he was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 15. He recently returned to the active roster after being in the COVID-19 protocols.
Before this season, Gillies hadn’t appeared in an NHL game since the 2017-18 season. He signed in December with the Blues, who were also dealing with a coronavirus outbreak, and played one game for St. Louis before he was traded to the Devils.
LIGHTNING 4, CANUCKS 2: Steven Stamkos scored his team-leading 18th goal, Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves and Tampa Bay won at home.
Anthony Cirelli, Boris Katchouk and Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay. Katchouk made it 3-1 at 11:24 of the third during a 2-on-0, and Vasilevskiy stopped Elias Pettersson’s breakaway shot after the ensuing faceoff.
BLUE JACKETS 6, HURRICANES 0: Yegor Chinakhov scored two goals and Elvis Merzlikins posted a 31-save shutout as Columbus won at Carolina.
Emil Bemstrom, Patrik Laine, Cole Sillinger and Jack Roslovic also scored for the Blue Jackets, who squandered a 4-0 lead against Carolina earlier this month.
The Hurricanes were shut out for the first time this season.
JETS 3, RED WINGS 0: Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for his second shutout of the season and Andrew Copp scored twice in Winnipeg’s victory at Detroit.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 29 shots for Detroit, which was shut out for the fifth time this season.
SABRES 4, PREDATORS 1: Jeff Skinner scored twice and Aaron Dell made 29 saves to lead Buffalo to a victory at Nashville.
Mark Jankowski and Vinnie Hinostroza also scored for Buffalo, which snapped a six-game losing streak.
BLUES 2, KRAKEN 1: Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich scored in the third period as St. Louis came back to beat visiting Seattle.
Ville Husso made 31 saves and the Blues extended their home point streak to 13 games, going back to Nov. 18. It is the third-longest stretch in franchise history.
NOTES
ALL-STAR GAME: Washington star Alexander Ovechkin and high-scoring Edmonton teammates Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl headline the rosters for NHL All-Star Weekend.
Selected for the eighth time, Ovechkin led voting in the Metropolitan Division to earn the captaincy for the Feb. 4-5 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The event features a three-game tournament played in a three-on-three format, with 11-man teams from each of the league’s four divisions. A player will be added to each team through Last Men In voting that ends Monday night.
Ovechkin was selected to the Metropolitan squad along with fellow forwards Sebastian Aho of Carolina, Claude Giroux of Philadelphia, Jack Hughes of New Jersey and Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers, defenseman Adam Fox of the Rangers, Zach Werenski of Columbus and Adam Pelech of the New York Islanders, and goalies Frederik Andersen of Carolina and Tristan Jarry of Pittsburgh. Rod Brind’Amour of Carolina is set to coach the division.
McDavid and Draisaitl were selected to the Pacific team with fellow forwards Jordan Eberle of Seattle, Johnny Gaudreau of Calgary, Adrian Kempe of Los Angeles, Timo Meier of San Jose, Mark Stone of Vegas, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo of Vegas and goalies John Gibson of Anaheim and Thatcher Demko of Vancouver. McDavid is set to be the captain, and Peter DeBoer of Vegas the coach.
Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and defenseman Victor Hedman of Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay are set to represent the Atlantic along with forwards Auston Matthews of Toronto, Drake Batherson of Ottawa, Patrice Bergeron of Boston, Jonathan Huberdeau of Florida, Dylan Larkin of Detroit and Nick Suzuki of Montreal, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin of Buffalo and goalie Jack Campbell of Toronto. Matthews topped the voting to take the captaincy, and Andrew Brunette of Florida earned the coaching spot.
In the Central, Nathan MacKinnon of Colorado was selected along with fellow forwards Kyle Connor of Winnipeg, Alex DeBrincat of Chicago, Kirill Kaprizov of Minnesota, Clayton Keller of Arizona, Jordan Kyrou of St. Louis, Joe Pavelski of Dallas, defenseman Cale Makar of Colorado and goalies Juuse Saros of Nashville and Cam Talbot of Minnesota. MacKinnon is the captain, and Jared Bednar of Colorado the coach.
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