The New Jersey Devils traveled to Belmont to take on the New York Islanders for the second game in a row Saturday. After defeating the Islanders big at home, they came out with a 4-2 victory on the road. This game saw the Islanders ice most of their regulars, whereas the Devils did not; which is very encouraging.
Game Recap
First Period
The Devils kicked off the game with the first goal on their first shot of the game. As the team accelerated in transition, Brian Halonen fed a saucer pass over to Luke Glendening, who roofed a wrist shot over Ilya Sorokin. The Devils maintained their lead throughout the first period, putting forth a competitive effort against the Islanders regulars.
This was a good period for the Devils. Overall, they outshot the Islanders 9-8, but held a stronger edge in shot attempts at 22-15. The Devils did a tremendous job of generating quality chances, generating 1.14 expected goals during five-on-five play. The score reflected their strong efforts in this period.
Second Period
The second period started of slow. Neither team generated much offense and the Devils defense held the Islanders to just two shots on goal until the midway point of the period. Eventually, the dam broke and the Islanders tied the game.
At the 11:30 mark of the period, Islanders forward Marc Gatomb pounced on a rebound to tie the game up at one. The Devils would make a planned goalie change at the point, seeing Jakub Málek take the crease. Allen stopped 11-of-12 in a success outing. Each team would the. trade chances the rest of the way, but the game remained tied at one heading into the third period.
This period was the opposite of the first period. The Islanders pushed back in the second period, out-attempting the Devils 16-8 during this period. Shots were close in total, but the Islanders controlled the expected goals share at 77.14%. The Devils’ defense could not control play in the high danger areas, seeing the Islanders outshoot them 6-1 in that area of the ice.
Third Period
The third period was a much higher scoring affair than the first two periods. Like the way the game started, the Devils drew first blood in the third. At the 8:44 mark, Nathan Légaré won a battle for the puck and skated in alone and fired the puck past Sorokin to take the lead. Under four minutes later, the Devils put a stranglehold on the game adding to their lead.
Seamus Casey sprung Arseny Gritsyuk in on a breakaway and he capitalized on his own rebound to make it 3-1 Devils. With control of the game, the Islanders pulled Sorokin to get the extra skater. At the 16:50, Anthony Duclair capitalized off a rebound to cut the deficit to one. The Devils would add an empty net goal of their own, courtesy of Angus Crookshank, and when the horn sounded, the score read 4-2.
This was a much better period compared to the second for the Devils. It was a low event frame, as the expected goals sat at 0.8-0.63 in favor of New Jersey.
Wrap Up
This was a phenomenal game for the Devils and an encouraging win. For a team that skated mostly players that weren’t regulars, they showed up in a big way and got the win.
Gristyuk scored his second goal of the preseason and Légaré had himself a multi-point game. Additionally, Malek played extremely well, stopping 12-of-13.
The Devils are now 2-1-0 this preseason.
Game Notes
- Seamus Casey was a dominant force for the Devils in this game. When he was on the ice, play was in the Devils favor. He finished the game with a Corsi-for percentage of 64.71, which was the highest on the team. Also, New Jersey had a 80.22 expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) when he was on the ice and outscored the opposition 2-0. Really encouraging showing for Casey in this matchup.
- The line of Paul Cotter, Juho Lammikko, and Arseny Gritsyuk was effective. They did get out-attempted 11-9,, but held the edge in shots on goal and controlled the expected goals share at 66.25% of the time on ice. They did score a goal, which adds to their efforts.
What’s Next?
The Devils have a split-squad day on Sunday. One group will travel to Ottawa and the other will stay in Newark and welcome in Washington. Each game is slated for a 3:00 pm ET puck drop.