Quick Overview
Despite an early lead courtesy of Nico Hischier, the New Jersey Devils had an off night and couldn’t string momentum together long enough to pull out a victory. They fell to the New York Islanders, 6-4.
In the contest, Vitek Vanecek saw his night end early after the Islanders scored their fourth goal early in the second period, leaving with just a .765 save percentage on one of his uglier performances on the season. Miles Wood took an absolutely massive hit in the second period and did not return for the finish of the game.
The Devils did attempt to fight back, including pulling Schmid with eight minutes remaining in the third. New Jersey put up a strong fight to close the gap but ultimately the Islanders and Semyon Varlamov had their number.
1st Period
Things got off to a solid start courtesy of a Nico Hischier goal just 5:32 into the first period via a beautiful shortside snipe to beat Varlamov.
Unfortunately, the lead wouldn’t last. Brock Nelson got the Islanders on the board via a wrap-around goal that seemed to catch Vanecek overplaying the post and unable to recover in time.
Then the Devils, who appear to have a knack for giving up last-second goals, let one up to Anders Lee. With 10-seconds remaining, Lee would let a wrist shot fly from the slot and a quick screen hindered Vanecek’s ability to have any real chance at making a play.
Second Period
The Islanders would continue to pile it on with two goals (courtesy of Casey Cizikas and Oliver Wahlstrom) just 35-seconds. That ultimately would be the end of the night for Vanecek.
The Devils would answer with a Dawson Mercer goal to make it a 4-2 game. Brock Nelson would strike once again to give the Islanders back the three goal lead with under five minutes remaining in the second, making the comeback seem that much more unlikely for New Jersey.
The highly talked about play in the second period ultimately was the hit on Miles Wood and the scrum that followed. While attempting to navigate through the middle of the ice in the Islanders’ zone, Wood got caught with his head down by Alexander Romanov and he paid the price. Michael McLeod immediately flew over and dropped the gloves with Romanov among the sea of bodies in the corner, which is to be expected when a teammate gets hit as hard as Wood did.
Third Period
The third period started with a goal by Cal Clutterbuck, giving the Islanders a 6-2 lead and seemingly ending the game. Mercer attempted to make a quick tap pass on the puck but ultimately just left it right on a silver platter for Clutterbuck.
The Devils have shown all season that they won’t go down without a fight, and a slight pulse came back into the building when Tomas Tatar scored his seventh of the season just 1:30 after the Clutterbuck goal to once again make it a three-goal game.
With the goalie pulled and around 6:30 left in the game, Jack Hughes continued to show why he’s one of the best in the game. Walking the blue line, Hughes beats his man up high, creating just enough space to fire home a wrister through a maze of bodies and all of the sudden it was a 6-4 game.
Try as they might, it just wasn’t meant to be and the game would ultimately finish 6-4. This giving the Devils just their 5th loss in regulation and 6th loss on the season.
Takeaways
- Vitek Vanecek finally had an off night. It’s unfortunate, but even the best slip up every once in a while. Nothing really that should be a cause for concern, just a bad game.
- Brock Nelson continues to be a thorn in the side for New Jersey after a two-goal performance.
- Akira Schmid played very well coming in off the bench in a tough situation.
- With Miles Wood potentially missing time and Nathan Bastian still out, Alexander Holtz is setup to have a real chance to show he can adapt at the NHL level. He did struggle mightily against the Islanders.
- Was great to see head coach Lindy Ruff pulling the goalie down three with almost eight minutes remaining. Nothing to lose in that situation and really shows faith in the players to go out and make things happen.
- Jack Hughes final shift officially lasted 6:02, which included two empty net saves and a near assist to Haula. Hughes really has ascended to another level this season
What’s Next
The Devils have the rest of the weekend off and will be back in action on Monday at Madisom Square Garden against the New York Rangers for the second time in two weeks.