Game Recap
There’s really no way around this one, the New Jersey Devils loss to the New York Islanders last night was ugly.
First Period
Matt Martin scored just over three minutes into this one, and that was a sign of things to come. Adam Pelech then scored six minutes later to make it a 2-0 Islanders lead, but the Devils didn’t look dominated or anything of the sort. This until the second period that is.
Second Period
The wheels really seemed to come off in the second. This was due to sloppy play after sloppy play, miserable defensive zone coverage, absolutely no offense or real sustained pressure, and a goalie who is showing shaky confidence at best right now. Noah Dobson and Josh Bailey score in the final six minutes. This bumped the lead up to 4-0. In doing so, it basically signaled game over in this one.
Third Period
The Devils did attempt a pushback in the third period and may have given some people hope of a Washington repeat. Janne Kuokkanen scored a nice chip in goal right in front of the crease. Mikhail Maltsev quickly followed it up with a backhand goal that Sorokin would definitely want to have back.
However, just 30-seconds later Brock Nelson would capitalize on a complete coverage breakdown. He tapped in a wide open backdoor pass and get the lead up to 5-2. Jack Hughes would finally get back in the goal column with just over four minutes remaining. This was as close as the Devils would come in this one.
Summary
The score makes the game look closer than it really was. New Jersey definitely didn’t play well enough to snag a comeback point. The Devils will need to figure out some of the early game issues. They need to play as they do in the third period an entire sixty minutes.
The Islanders aren’t going anywhere, as New Jersey will now have a back-to-back games against them Saturday and Sunday. New Jersey must figure something out if they want to get in the win column over the weekend.