Sunday afternoon the New Jersey Devils lost to the New York Islanders 1-0 on home ice. The team allowed a goal in the final minute of the second period which proved to be a game winner. They fell to 41-32-7 on the season.
Recap
Period One
The Devils started out on the front foot in the first period but Ilya Sorokin, who surprisingly was ready to go for Sunday’s contest, stood tall. Things flipped around when the Devils failed to score on a power play and then surrendered one of their own. On the Islanders’ man advantage, Bo Horvat thought he scored but it was deemed that he knocked the puck into the net with his glove. Things would stay relatively even and it would be 0-0 after one period.
Period Two
The Islanders and Devils played pretty back and forth to begin the period, until Paul Cotter ran through Adam Pelech to give New York a five minute power play. Cotter is set to have a hearing for his hit on Pelech. The Devils would kill it off with ease, but wouldn’t be able to get out of the period unscathed.
Timo Meier had a bad turnover right in front of the net, and Bo Horvat made no mistake. With 55 seconds left in period two, the Islanders would strike first. It would stay that way and be 1-0 after two.
Period Three
After an early too many men on the ice call against New Jersey, they really picked up the pace in the third period, applying pressure and chances against the Islanders. In the final minutes, however, they couldn’t get the puck settled in the offensive zone and get the goalie pulled. Jacob Markstrom finally went off with about 15 seconds left. That’s when the Devils had their best chance, a bullet off the stick of Jesper Bratt that went just high. Meier would put one more shot on, to no avail. The Devils fell 1-0 at home.
Game Notes
Shutouts
The Devils have had a weird season in many facets, but one of the most interesting ones has to be the amount of times they’ve both gotten shutout and shutout their opponent. The Devils are third in the NHL with nine shutouts this season between Markstrom, Jake Allen, and Nico Daws. They are also tied for second in the NHL with nine shutouts against this season.
The Devils have the most games this season where one team failed to score at 18 which is certainly a weird statistic to be leading the league in. The Ottawa Senators, who are tied for the league lead in shutouts this season, are second with 17.
Getting to the Playoffs
While losing these games are frustrating, the most important thing in the final few outings of the season is staying healthy. The Devils have locked in their seeding, so winning or losing games won’t change anything—except maybe affect the team’s mindset heading into the playoffs. The players also know these games don’t matter and it’s showing. They don’t want to risk injury right before the playoffs. As long as the Devils can play fairly well and stay on the ice that’s a win.
What’s Next
The Devils travel to Boston for their final road game of the season on Tuesday. After that, they’ll only have one more game to play.