Reverse Retro Night At The Rock: Devils Abandon Ship To Islanders 6-4

NEWARK, NJ----- On Tuesday night the Devils shut out the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 behind a beautiful goaltending performance by Vitek Vanecek saving 24 shots on goal. The Devils goals came from Hamilton, Hischeir, and a power play goal by Bratt in the third period.

The NHL leading Devils have now own 21 out of its first 26 games.

The Devils dominated at all phases of the ice the whole entire game and kept the game in their control with fast pace of puck play. Hamilton followed his goal with two assists to end with a three-point night. Vitek records his second shutout of the season, and Hughes finished with two beauties of assists.

Its Reverse Retro night at the Rock and the Devils host the visiting New York Islanders who are fourth in the metropolitan with a 16-11-0 record. The Islanders are coming off a brutal defeat to the St. Louis Blues 7-4.

New Jersey has a 5-2 record against Metropolitan teams this season while New York has a 6-2 record.

Nico Hischier has scored 11 goals with 16 assists for the Devils. Jack Hughes has six goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.

For the Islanders, Noah Dobson has scored eight goals with 10 assists for the Islanders. Jean-Gabriel Pageau has five goals and one assist over the past 10 games.

GONE FISHING

The Devils were able to kill an early power play by the Islanders following a penalty by Alexander Holtz at the 2:41 mark. It didn’t take long for New Jersey to respond, as they got a power play of their own following a holding call on Isles defenseman Ryan Pulock.

Devils’ Captain Nico Hischier was able to capitalize, scoring 33 seconds into the power play to put New Jersey on the board 1-0. Jesper Bratt and Dougie Hamilton were credited with the assists.

The Devils had another opportunity to tack on when Matt Martin was sent to the penalty box for interference, but the Islanders were able to kill this penalty. Shortly after the penalty kill, Islanders’ leading goal scorer Brock Nelson tied the game up with his 13th goal of the season, with the assist going to Alexander Romanov.

In the final seconds of the first, Isles captain Anders Lee put New York ahead 2-1 with his 9th goal of the season. Romanov and Scott Mayfield had the assists, and the first period ended with New York up 2-1 with 11 shots on goal. Meanwhile, The Devils finished the first with nine shots.

CAN’T STOP BROCK

It was sloppy start to the beginning of the second period for the Devils. Isles Cal Clutterbuck leads a beauty of a pass to Cizikaswho glides down the middle of the ice and hits a one timer to put the Islanders 3-1.

A minute not even passing by at the 4:05 Islanders tack on another goal from the right side of Vitek to make it 4-1. Wahlstrom rips from the wide side of the net to score his 7th goal of the year.

Lindy Ruff pulls the plug on Vitek and replaces him with Akira Schmid.

The Devils only needed a couple minutes to respond back. Jack Hughes sets up a gorgeous pass to Mercer gliding through the middle and takes it home to put the lead within two. That is Mercer’s 7th goal of the season.

Islanders Alexander Romanov lays the hammer on Miles Wood who is shaken up and eventually headed into the locker room with trainers. Meanwhile McLeod answers to Romanov with starting a fight, who did not like the hit on his teammate. Officials on the ice ejected McLeod for instigating game misconduct on Romanov.

  16:47 mark Brock Nelson punches his second goal of the game to increase the lead to 5-2 on their fourth power play of the night for the Islanders. At this point of the game Nelson had 7 shots on goal, 10 attempts, and that’s the difference maker.

As the second period ends it was a lop-sided performance. The isles dominated all period out shooting New Jersey 17-9 and Brock Nelson pounding the net with his second goal of the game.

TO LITTLE TO LATE

The Islanders and Devils traded goals early in the 3rd Period, with Cal Clutterbuck picking up his third goal of the season just one minute into play. Tomas Tatar answered 90 seconds later with his seventh to trim New York’s lead back down to three.

The Devils pulled Schmid with about seven minutes remaining and were able to keep the Isles out of the net the remainder of the game. Jack Hughes picked up his 14th goal of the year to cut the deficit to two at the 13:39 mark.

  The Devils continued to put pressure on the Islanders and out-shot them 11-3 in the period, but Semyon Varlamov was able to stop the barrage and limit the damage. Ultimately, the Devils’ late push falls short, and the Islanders were able to hang on, winning by a score of 6-4.

The Devils were dominated in all phases out on the ice. The Islanders were more physical attacking the puck and along the boards. The Isles drove hard attacking the net all night and pounding Vanecek and Schmid. It was the sixth time this season and fourth in the last six games the Islanders scored two less than a minute apart.

The Devils cross the Hudson River for their second meeting of the season with the New York Rangers at the Garden. The first meeting between both these teams--- the Devils came up on top winning 5-3.

The Devils still in first place in the Metropolitan division, and will play the Rangers Monday December 12, 2022 puck drop beginning 7pm ET.

Also Written By: Anthony Walker