Rapid Recap: Islanders Dance with Devils, Lose 4-1

Newark, NJ–After dropping Monday night’s preseason contest by a score of 4-1 to the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders were back in action against the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center. The result, much of the same as the Islanders fell 4-1 yet again.

GAME LINES:

Beauvillier-Bailey-Wahlstrom

Bellows-Räty-Palmieri

Martin-Cizikas-Dufour

Soshnikov-MacLean-Fasching

Pelech-Pulock

LaDue-Cholowski

Aho-Helgeson

Sorokin

Schneider

SPECIAL TEAM LINES:

PP1: Dufour-Bailey-Wahlstrom, Aho-Beauvillier

PP2: Fasching-Räty-Bellows, Palmieri-Cholowski

PK1: Bailey-Palmieri, Pelech-Pulock

PK2: McLean-Beauvillier, LaDue-Helgeson

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Period 1: 

Nikita Soshnikov gave the New York Islanders a 1-0 lead as he sniped New Jersey Devils netminder Vitek Vanecek over the glove from inside the left circle at 8:04 of the first period. William Dufour’s pass from the defensive zone gave him the primary assist.

The New Jersey Devils knotted the score up at one as Yegor Sharangovich beat Ilya Sorokin glove side from the high slot at 15:24 of the first period. John Marino and Fabian Zetterlund with the assists on the goal.

Dougie Hamilton gave the Devils a 2-1 lead at 16:42 of the first period as he roofed one through a major screen in front and right over the left shoulder of Sorokin. Jonas Siegenthaler and Michael McLeod with the assists on the go-ahead goal.

Period 2: 

Jack Hughes gave the Devils a 3-1 lead 52 seconds into the second period as a turnover by Sebastian Aho and a missed coverage by Casey Cizikas gave Hughes a wide-open shot from the low slot. Alexander Holtz and Ondrej Palat with the assists on the goal.

Erik Haula gave the Devils a 4-1 lead at 17:48 of the second period as he received a drop-pass from Miles Wood and went right around Kyle MacLean before roofing the puck over Cory Schneider and in. Miles Wood and Dawson Mercer were credited with the assists.

Takeaways:

The New York Islanders’ second group ran into the same problem the first group ran into on Monday night in their 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers. Against the Devils, the Islanders seemed a bit lackadaisical and failed to sustain offensive pressure.

The two youngsters in Aatu Räty and William Dufour played well in their ice time, but for the rest of the group, there was a whole lot of nothing going on.

Dennis Cholowski struggled in his Islanders debut, as he seemed a bit nervous with the puck on his stick.

We learned that besides having silky hands, 28-year-old Nikita Soshnikov has a lethal shot, which he showed off in the first period.

Soshnikov on the breakaway 🤩 pic.twitter.com/2TtPgNzb0D

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) September 27, 2022

Ilya Sorokin, who stopped nine of the 12 shots he faced in 29:55 minutes, did not get much support. There seemed to always be traffic in front of his crease or in the slot, and the Devils took advantage.

The Islanders finished the contest with one goal and have been held to two total goals over the first two preseason games.

Quotes:

Lane Lambert: “Well, we got work to do. There’s no question about it. We learned that having some time off and not having any type of game action is very necessary. So we’ll continue to build and work and we’ll and we’ll be better.”

Matt Martin: “I just think, you know, getting back to game shape and obviously, there’s some tweaks and things we’re doing under Laner [Lambert] that we didn’t do under Trotsy [Barry Trotz]. So just to kind of get some game action and let’s figure it out on the fly.”

Aatu Räty: “For like, overall, it was pretty even. It’s like, New Jersey, when they had those little chances, whether it was our zone, in our D zone, they’d score. They just were kind of more ready for those. I mean, they scored some great goals.”

Up Next: The New York Islanders will host the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena on Sunday, Oct. 2. for game three of the preseason. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM ET.