On Monday, Nov. 10, the New Jersey Devils hosted the New York Islanders for their first matchup of the season. Both teams were coming off a win in their last game, the Devils beating the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 in a shootout and the Islanders shutting out the New York Rangers 5-0. This game was a close one, but the Islanders won 3-2 in overtime.
Game Recap
Not even a minute into the game, the Islanders received a too many men penalty. While Anthony Duclair sat in the box, the Devils got to work. Luke Hughes received the puck at the blue line off a pass from his brother. He passed it to Jesper Bratt in the faceoff circle, who passed to Timo Meier in the center of the ice. With a blast of a shot, he put the Devils on the board first just two minutes into the game.
Six minutes into the second period, the Devils tried to gain control of the puck in the neutral zone. It found Kyle Palmieri, who skated it into the Islanders’ offensive zone with speed. Bo Horvat followed closely behind. Palmieri passed to an open Horvat whose shot tied the game.
With four minutes left in the game, the Devils took their first penalty. With a minute remaining on the extra-man advantage, the Islanders capitalized. Matthew Schaefer held the puck at the blue line and passed it up to Horvat. He passed it back down to Schaefer, who took a shot. The puck deflected, but Palmieri was in front to clean up the rebound. His shot went into the empty space of the net to give the Islanders the lead.
As time dwindled, the Devils made a strong showing in their offensive zone. They had the puck tied up behind the net, where it gained some air off of Meier’s stick. Bratt picked it up in the corner and passed it to Simon Nemec at the blue line. He took a shot and tied the game with just four seconds on the clock.
Just a minute into overtime, Ryan Pulock made a drop pass for Mathew Barzal. He made a breakaway towards the net, passing the puck to Jonathan Drouin at the bench. He passed it back to Barzal who skated it up to the net uncontested. He shot the puck into the top corner of the net to secure the win.
Next Up
Both teams will now be on the road for their next games. The Devils will play the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The Islanders will play the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday, Nov. 13.
The two teams will face off against one another at UBS Arena on Dec. 23.
