The New Jersey Devils (5-0-0) continue their preseason dominance. After coming off an overtime thriller, they outdueled the New York Islanders in a back-and-forth affair. With a combined 10 goals in the game, the Devils defeated the Islanders 6-5.

Game Recap

First Period

Things got off to a rocky start for the Devils in this first period. Just under four minutes into the game, Mathew Barzal got the Islanders on the board. After the puck got thrown to the blue line, Barzal rushed the defense with great speed and skated in on a breakaway. He sniped a shot past Akira Schmid to make it 1-0.

The flurry of goals did not stop there, as Brock Nelson extended the lead 2-0, but a response from New Jersey was not far away. Roughly two minutes later, Tyler Toffoli dug the puck out to Kevin Bahl, who found an open John Marino. Marino fired the puck from the blueline to cut the deficit to 2-1. The horn would sound and the Devils would escape the first period down by one goal. 

Second Period

The second period saw a plethora of goals, with four coming from the Devils. Spurning the comeback was Jesper Bratt, who scored a pair of goals to open up the second period.

The first goal came on the power play, where Jack Hughes fed a cross-ice pass to Bratt who ripped a slap shot to tie the game. Moments later, Bratt sniped a shot off an odd-man rush to reclaim the lead. 

The Islanders would not go down quietly, as Pierre Engvall found the back of the net to tie the game. New Jersey kept the seesaw affair going as John Marino scored his second of the game. With great speed, Marino entered the zone and as he was attempting a cross ice pass it slid into the net.

The Devils continued to suffocate the Islanders, and saw the top line go to work. Off a beautiful passing play, Jack Hughes ripped a shot into the back of the net to make it 5-3. The horn would sound and the Devils would take a 5-3 lead into the second period. 

Third Period

The goal scoring calmed down compared to the first two periods, but both teams did find the back of the net. Mathew Barzal scored his second of the game to cut the deficit to one goal.

As they have done all game, the Devils responded to extend the lead. Jesper Bratt scored his third of the game to complete the hat trick. After taking a crisp pass from Marino, Bratt ripped a shot from the open slot to make it 6-4.

The Islanders did get one more before the final horn sounded, buts that is as close as they got.

Wrap Up

The New Jersey Devils defeated the New York Islanders 6-5 and remain undefeated in preseason action. The Devils had three different goal scorers, and two players with multi-goal games. Akira Schmid, who was far from his best, saved 15 of 20 and secured the victory. 

Game Notes

• The Devils’ top line of Tyler Toffoli, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt was electric on Monday. The trio erupted for four goals. Furthermore, they controlled the play finishing with a Corsi-for percentage (CF%) of 61.11. They are a dynamic line with a ton of skill and will cause problems for opposing teams.

• John Marino had himself a great game. He finished with a three-point night with two goals. Marino had a very strong impact on the game at five-on-five finishing with the second-best CF% on the team. With him on the ice, the Devils finished with 1.45 expected goals and outshot the Islanders 10-3.

What’s Next? 

The Devils continue to remain at home as the New York Rangers come to town Wednesday night for a 7:00 pm ET puck drop.