In their second game against the Islanders this preseason, the New Jersey Devils lost to the New York Islanders 5-1 at UBS Arena. There wasn’t much to write home about in the loss, as the team dropped their fourth-straight game to begin preseason. That’s all fine and good in the preseason but their opener is just around the corner.
First Period
The Isles quickly took the lead off an early power play in the first period. Nathan Bastian went to the box for tripping to set up the man-advantage. Deep in the offensive zone, Dennis Cholowski sent a tightrope pass across the slot to Fredrik Karlstrom, who placed a perfect shot through traffic over Jake Allen’s right shoulder to give the Isles a 1-0 lead.
Kyle MacLean extended New York’s lead to two goals at the 9:23 mark, turning a blocked shot in his defensive end into a clean breakaway on a helpless Allen. New Jersey had a few good offensive chances after the second goal, including a net-front stab by Dawson Mercer but Semyon Varlamov stood tall in net. New Jersey got their first power play of the game off an Oliver Wahlstrom tripping call but couldn’t generate consistent offensive pressure, looking all too reminiscent of last year’s anemic power play.
Simon Nemec took a late tripping call with under a minute to play in the period, and the Islanders did not let him off the hook. Bo Horvat wound back and slapped home a one-timer wide-open to give the Islanders a three-goal lead.
Despite going down big in the first period, the Devils outplayed the Isles. Two of their goals were plays New Jersey could do nothing about. The first goal was too well executed to stop and the second goal was off a flukey breakaway. The only big mistake came on the Horvat goal: the defensive structure broke down and gave him open space in the slot. New Jersey controlled 71.88% of the chances (Corsi-for percentage, CF%) and notched a 69.84 expected goal percentage (expected goals percentage, xG%)
Second Period
Mathew Barzal gave Allen yet another scare to start the second period after he split the defense to get a clean shot off but he deflected it wide. Liam Foudy would make that save irrelevant two minutes later at the 2:23 mark with the Isles’ fourth goal of the night. Carrying the puck in the neutral zone, Foudy bounced it off the boards to get around Jakub Zorbil and snapped it home on a once again helpless Jake Allen. Allen managed to squeeze the shot initially, but the puck had enough topspin to sneak past him. It was a goal both he and his defenseman would want back.
Timo Meier finally got the Devils on the board at the 8:17 mark with a power play goal, perfectly executing a tic-tac-toe play from Jesper Bratt and Dawson Mercer that left Meier alone in front of the net. New York responded minutes later with a goal from Oliver Wahlstrom at the end of a power play to regain a four-goal lead. The Devils’ defensive structure broke down yet again on the kill, allowing Wahlstrom ample space near the blue line to blast a shot past Jake Allen. New Jersey gave one last gasp on the power play to try and draw themselves back into the game with under five minutes to play in the second but their chances didn’t find twine.
Unlike the first period, the Islanders didn’t fluke to domination. The Devils notched a paltry 33.33 CF% and a 15.8 xG%.
Third Period
The third period was uneventful for both sides. The Devils’ NHLers had little to play for in their final game before heading to Prague and largely shut down. Head coach Sheldon Keefe called his team over to the bench at one point to “politely” tell them to get their acts together. To their credit, they didn’t allow another goal from New York.
Both teams played a relatively even, if boring third period. New Jersey earned a 54.55 CF% and a 51.32 xG%.
Results
It was a game to forget for the Devils as the countdown to Prague hits one week. Their defense broke down repeatedly to allow easy chances for New York and Jake Allen didn’t make their job any easier. Semyon Varlamov looked like he was in mid-season form and the Isles’ defense played stingy hockey all night.
With the loss, the Devils have gone winless in the preseason (after going undefeated last year), so they’ll need to turn it on quickly to start the regular season. The opening night players will skip the remaining preseason games and head out to Prague.
Game Notes
Islanders’ B-Squad Shines
The Devils were playing most of their projected opening night lineup last night while the Islanders had a mix of regulars and bubble players receiving ice time. Those bubble players made the difference with roster spots to play for. Fredrik Karlstrom scored a beautiful goal to start the game and added an assist on Oliver Wahlstrom’s goal. Liam Foudy read the play beautifully when he chipped the puck off the boards to create his goal. Kyle MacLean, son of Devils legend John MacLean, also added a goal to the pile. The B-squad had more to play for, so it makes sense for them to feature heavily on the scoresheet.
Jake Allen, Defense Team Up for Failure
Both Jake Allen and the defense are to blame for last night’s collapse. The blueliners allowed 11 high-danger chances on just 14 shots on goal. They left Allen vulnerable in goal. That said, Allen didn’t do himself any favors. He allowed five goals on those 14 shots, a few of which he should’ve made a better read on. The Wahlstrom goal was baffling and he definitely could have judged the Karlstrom goal better. He saved -3.16 goals above expected.
Up Next
The Devils will take on the Rangers at home on Monday at 7:00 pm ET.