The New Jersey Devils, after a difficult loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, headed to Long Island to take on the New York Islanders, who have looked confident as of late.
After what seemed to be a much too long board battle, the puck was pushed to center by Mat Barzal, who skated around to the left circle and regained possession on a pass from Ryan Pulock for an early Islanders’ goal.
Seconds later, Pulock was sent to the penalty box for slashing. The Devils were able to generate a few chances, but Ilya Sorokin looked strong in his first start since December 19, keeping the Devils off the board.
Anthony Duclair worked his way down the boards to enter the Devils’ zone, and lifted the puck over Jacob Markstrom’s pad for the Islanders’ second goal of the game.
Following the two Islanders’ goals, the Devils increased the pace of the game and both Hughes brothers looked confident skating north, but none of the chances entered the net.
With just over six minutes remaining in the first, Duclair gathered a stretch pass from Casey Cizikas and cleanly beat Markstrom over the pad from the left circle, again. Cole McWard also assisted on the goal, earning his first point as an Islander.
The Islanders managed to keep the Devils off the board in the first, despite 15 shots on net for the visiting team.
New York kept an aggressive start to the second, earning a few more tries on Markstrom.
While the Islanders had decisive control over the puck in the Devils’ zone, a slowed down play from Barzal sent the puck to Duclair, who earned his fourth career hat trick at 3:29 into the second.
Almost immediately after, Matthew Schaefer was sent off for a two-minute tripping minor on Nico Hischier. The Devils couldn’t quite get any productive chances on Sorokin during the man-advantage.
A zone entry by Anders Lee gave the Islanders a chance but Markstrom saved it with his arm. Another shot by Lee drew Markstrom out of the net and Simon Holmstrom managed to work his way around a slide the puck into the net as he was being pulled down.
Down in the Islanders’ end, Sorokin made save after save to keep the Devils off the board, earning a standing ovation from the UBS crowd. Even when Sorokin was out of place, the Islanders’ defense backed him up expertly. Sorokin continued to make excellent saves in his crease, leaving the score at 5-0 with just under six minutes remaining in the second, despite the Devils having double the number of shots on goal.
With under a minute remaining in the second frame, Schaefer sent the puck over the glass, earning a two-minute delay of game minor.
The Devils kept control of the advantage but would ultimately start the third period with 1:20 on the power play and a five goal deficit.
The power play was unsuccessful and off the rush for the Islanders, Casey Cizikas—perhaps accidentally—tucked the puck through Markstrom’s legs.
In a frustrating game for the Devils, it looked almost impossible to turn around. New Jersey was outpacing New York in shots on goal, high danger chances, face-off wins, and power play chances. Unfortunately for the visiting team, the Islanders were hot on Tuesday night and Sorokin looked determined to make a statement in his comeback game.
An insane shot sequence from Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Hamilton again sent Sorokin sprawling for the saves, once again earning a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Sorokin saved a season-high 45 shots in Tuesday’s game.
Tony DeAngelo gave UBS another reason to cheer, with a pass from Duclair that he ripped past Markstrom.
To put the cherry on top, a stretch pass from DeAngelo allowed Cal Ritchie to put an eighth puck past Markstrom.
Cizikas scored the Islanders’ ninth goal of the night with less than a minute remaining.
Sorokin earned his 26th career shutout, breaking the record in franchise history. Duclair also earned his highest point game ever, with five points.
