The Upshot: The NY Islanders fall 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils

HOW IT HAPPENED

From the beginning of the night, the Islanders struggled. The first 13 shots of the game belonged to the New Jersey Devils, and while Islanders’ goalie, Ilya Sorokin, stopped them all, it was only a taste of how the rest of the game would go.

After a scoreless first period, the Devils were finally able to put a couple of pucks behind Sorokin, scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead. After a goal from Jack Hughes and two from Ondrej Palat, the Islanders would get one back, courtesy of Anders Lee’s second of the year. That goal, however, wouldn’t be enough as New Jersey would add an empty net goal off the stick of Nico Hischier to cap off a 4-1 win. 

WHAT WENT RIGHT

While the Islanders offense was nowhere to be found for the first 56 minutes of the game, Ilya Sorokin still made 38 saves. For most of the night, he was the main reason the Isles were able to keep their hopes of winning alive for so long.

The Devils came out swinging in the first, but somehow, the game was still scoring after 20 minutes, a period that New Jersey outshot New York 13-2. The only reason for that was Ilya Sorokin. 

WHAT WENT WRONG

In the first three games of the season, the Islanders were very active in the offensive zone, shooting the puck and forechecking. Tonight, the Islanders did not do much of either. The Devils, from start to finish, just looked like the better team.

Using their speed, the players in white were winning races to pucks and continuously getting behind the Isles’ defense. For a team that just had five months off, playing in just their fourth game of the year, there is no excuse for looking as slow as New York did, even if the Devils have a much younger team. 

STATS OF THE GAME

After killing three more penalties against the Devils, the Islanders penalty kill is now a perfect 15/15 to start the 2022-23 season. The Islanders are now 1-2-0 when they surrender the opening goal in the game and 1-0-0 when scoring first. 

SOCIAL MEDIA MOMENT OF THE GAME

Earlier today, the Islanders announced that they will be bringing back the fisherman logo in their Reverse Retro jerseys, which will be worn six times this season. Current and former broadcasters took to Twitter to give their opinions on the new Isles’ uniforms. 

WHAT’S NEXT

The Islanders will hit the road for the first time as they head to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning, Saturday night at 7 pm.