The New Jersey Devils (34-33-4) hit the road Sunday, with their first stop being against the New York Islanders (30-25-15) on Long Island. The Devils played less than 24 hours ago in a stinging 5-2 defeat to the Ottawa Senators on home ice.

In that matchup, Mathieu Joseph opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal at 4:56 of the first period. The Devils started the second period down 1-0, but quickly tallied two goals by Jesper Bratt and Thomas Nosek to take a 2-1 lead in the opening minute of the middle frame. The Senators would then go on to score four unanswered goals en route to their first regulation win in a month. New Jersey’s power play struggled this game, failing to convert on their four opportunities yet surrendering a shorthanded goal.

In tonight’s matchup, the Devils hope for a regulation win as they seek to keep any semblance of playoff hopes alive against the Islanders, who sit three points ahead of New Jersey in the standings. The season series is lead by New Jersey so far, with each game resulting in a 5-4 victory. The Devils did not skate this morning due to the turnaround, so lines will not become available until we near warmups. Of note, Kurtis MacDermid was injured in yesterday’s matchup and did not return to the game with what appeared to be a lower body injury.

Lines and Pairings

Devils

Check back when warmups begin for the team’s lines and pairings.

Islanders

Forwards

Nelson-Horvat-Palmieri

Lee-Barzal-Fasching

Cizikas-Pageau-Engvall

Martin-MacLean-Clutterbuck

Defense

Pelech-Dobson

Romanov-Bortuzzo

Reilly-Pulock

Goalies

Sorokin

Varlamov

Keys to the Game

Power Play

New Jersey’s power play was red hot before yesterday’s game. They had a few opportunities in their latter man advantages, but they’ll need to get their top power play guys going again to make life easier throughout their game and convert on any opportunities given. The Islanders own the league’s worst penalty kill.

Get the Big Guns Firing

New Jersey’s star players have been finding the score sheet recently, and that needs to continue tonight. Yesterday, Jesper Bratt broke his cold streak with a breakaway goal, and in prior games, Jack Hughes had been finding the twine with a bit more consistency. Timo Meier stayed red hot up until yesterday as well. They’ll need more contributions from their top players to keep things rolling.

Where to Watch

This evening’s game can be viewed on MSG and MSGSN locally. Puck drop is set for 5:00 pm ET at UBS Arena.