Tonight, the New Jersey Devils look to end their season on a high note by defeating the New York Islanders at home. The Devils lost in a disappointing offensive performance to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. The Islanders lost in a shootout to the Rangers earlier that day.

The Devils are 38-38-5, poor enough for seventh in the Metropolitan division. The Isles hold a record of 37-27-16, which has them third in the Metro.

Match Overview

Historically, the Devils don’t match up well against the Islanders. This season, however, it’s been a different story. The Devils have won all three games against the Islanders, who have nine more points and a playoff spot despite actually winning less games than the Devils.

The Devils have been inconsistent and disappointing to close out the season, while the Islanders have been on a roll. The Isles’ are 6-0-1 in their last seven, a stretch that has propelled them into third place in the Metropolitan.

This season the Devils have defeated the Islanders 5-4 in overtime on the road, 5-4 in regulation at home thanks to a late Curtis Lazar goal, and 4-0 on Long Island in March.

Lines and Pairings

Devils

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Islanders

Forwards

Cizikas-Horvat-Barzal

Fasching-Nelson-Palmieri

Lee-Pageau-Engvall

Martin-MacLean-Clutterbuck

Defense

Pelech-Pulock

Romanov-Bortuzzo

Reilly-Aho

Goalies

Sorokin

Varlamov

Keys to the Game

The Pity Point

As all hockey fans should be aware, in the NHL if you lose a game after regulation is over you get what many fans have dubbed the “pity point.” This point has had its proponents from the beginning, but if the Islanders are able to hold on and make the playoffs its legitimacy will come into question ever further. To the point of getting rid of it entirely? Maybe, the discussion should at least be had.

As mentioned earlier, the Islanders have nine more points than the Devils despite having one less win and five less regulation wins. The regulation wins part is where it gets interesting because what many have proposed is a 3-2-1 points system.

The 3-2-1 points system is a compromise between getting rid of the overtime/shootout point and keeping things the way they are. The way this new points system would work is that it essentially makes every game worth three total points, instead of just ones that go past regulation. A regulation win gets you three points, an overtime or shootout win gets you two, and an overtime or shootout loss gets you one. 

Is it a perfect solution? No, but it would at least make things a little more fair for teams like the Devils who would be right in the thick of things if this was the current system.

Coaching Changes

These are two teams that made coaching changes mid season. The Islanders fired Lane Lambert in favor of Patrick Roy midseason. Meanwhile, the Devils canned Lindy Ruff for Travis Green shortly before the trade deadline.

Green is 8-11-1 as Devils head coach, while Roy is 18-12-5 as the Isles bench boss.

Where To Watch

The Devils and Islanders matchup is slated for a 7:00 pm ET puck drop. The game can be seen on MSGSN2.