Game Preview: Devils Host Islanders Looking to Build Momentum

The New Jersey Devils finally looked like themselves on Saturday night. They took it to the Buffalo Sabres in a 7-2 victory, seemingly revitalized with the return of their captain, Nico Hischier. Next up, they’ll face the New York Islanders who have won three of their last four games and collected points in their last six tilts.

Interestingly, the Devils and Islanders made a trade between minor leaguers on Sunday. Neither will play a factor into tonight’s tilt.

The Devils will likely face the heavy Islanders without forward Erik Haula. Head coach Lindy Ruff explained he’s not likely to be available after an injury held him out of Saturday’s third period. The same goes for Timo Meier who did not skate on Monday, and Tomas Nosek who remains on injured reserve.

The Islanders are a bit banged up, too. They lost defenseman Adam Pelech to injury and as a result, claimed defenseman Mike Reilly off waivers from the Florida Panthers. He’ll make his Isles debut against the Devils tonight.

It’s another Devils gameday, let’s dive into tonight’s tilt against the Islanders.

How to Watch

Time: 7:00 PM      Watch/Stream: MSGSN/MSGSN2/MSG+      Listen: DEVILS HOCKEY NET

Projected Devils Lineup

Ondrej Palat – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt

Tyler Toffoli – Jack Hughes – Dawson Mercer

Alexander Holtz – Michael McLeod – Curtis Lazar

Brendan Smith – Chris Tierney – Nathan Bastian

Jonas Siegenthaler – Dougie Hamilton

Kevin Bahl – John Marino

Luke Hughes – Colin Miller

Akira Schmid

Vitek Vanecek

Projected Islanders Lineup

Mathew Barzal – Bo Horvat – Hudson Fasching

Pierre Engvall – Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri

Anders Lee – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Oliver Wahlstrom

Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Julien Gauthier

Alexander Romanov – Ryan Pulock

Noah Dobson – Scott Mayfield

Mike Reilly – Grant Hutton

Semyon Varlamov

Ilya Sorokin

Last Game

The Devils dominated the Sabres in a 7-2 affair. Tyler Toffoli led the charge scoring two goals, his team-leading 10th and 11th. The Devils had eight total skaters, including Toffoli, register multi-point nights. Those names included Jesper Bratt (two assists), Dawson Mercer (one goal, one assist), Luke Hughes (one goal, one assist), Ondrej Palat (one goal, one assist), Nico Hischier (one goal, one assist), Alexander Holtz (one goal, one assist), and Dougie Hamilton (two assists). Vitek Vanecek wasn’t called on often making 10 saves in the Devils victory.

Player to Watch

The Islanders penalty kill is pretty bad. Jesper Bratt ranks second in the NHL behind only Nikita Kucherov (18) with 16 power-play points (4g-12a) this season.

The pace is impressive considering Bratt earned a career-high 22 power-play points (8g-14a) all last season.

Given the fact that New Jersey’s power play is No.1 overall converting at 37.5% and the Isles PK ranks second worst at 70.3%, Bratt could leap Kucherov for the NHL lead in power-play points.

Devils vs. Islanders

According to the Devils’ PR, “The Devils and New York face-off for the second of four matchups this season:

Mar. 24 at NYI, 5:00 P.M.
Apr. 15 vs NYI, 7:00 P.M.

The Devils defeated the Islanders in the first matchup, after a 5-4 overtime win on Oct. 20, 2023, at UBS Arena. Jack Hughes recorded a four-point (2g-2a) effort and earned the overtime game-winning goal.

ALL-TIME vs NYI

Record: 96-131-22-16
Home: 56-53-11-10
Road: 40-78-11-6

DID YOU KNOW…

The most goals in franchise history earned in a single game vs New York is nine goals, which was earned in a 9-7 win on Apr. 6, 1986, at New Jersey.

The most goals that the franchise allowed in a single game vs New York is nine (4 times), which was last logged on Mar. 17, 1983, in a 9-5 loss at New Jersey.

The most shots that Jersey earned in a single game vs the Isles is 57, which was recorded on Apr., 12, 1999, in a 4-2 loss at New
Jersey.

The most shots that the franchise allowed in a single game vs New York is 51, which was logged on Feb., 22, 1977, in a 2-1 loss at New York (CLR).

The last time that the Devils shut out New York was on Nov. 11, 2021, in a 3-0 win at the Rock (M. Blackwood, 37 saves)

The last time New York shut out the Devils was on Nov. 3rd, 2018, after a 3-0 loss at the Isles.

The Devils and Isles met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs once, which was in the 1987-88 Division Semi-Finals (Round 1). New Jersey eliminated the Isles in six games.

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