The Islanders were heavily outshot and often outplayed on a night where Ilya Sorokin faced 50 shots, but a nice balance of scoring provided enough of a cushion to get a regulation point after the Devils erased a 4-2 deficit to win in overtime on a controversial Jack Hughes breakaway.
Anthony Duclair, Victor Eklund and Simon Holmstrom each had goals to spread the scoring around. (Matthew Schaefer also scored, but come on he’s expected to.)
The teams traded quick goals in spurts through the first two
periods. The Islanders got on the board thanks to alert play by Emil Heineman to set up Duclair when Jake Allen was unable-by-law to touch a dump in outside the trapezoid. The Devils tied it 17 seconds later, but the Isles answered two minutes after that with Matthew Schaefer’s fifth goal of the season.
Eklund’s goal to make it 4-2 midway through the second was mostly Tony DeAngelo’s shot after a good stretch of Isles pressure, but Eklund was in the paint to knock the rebound in, and Heineman was also there in case the Swede didn’t get to it first.
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A thorough scrum late in the second created five penalties, with the Islanders somehow getting the extra, giving New Jersey a power play that carried over into the final period.
And trailing by two entering the third, the Devils started it with a relentless push that continued after that power play expired. Ilya Sorokin made a medley of saves before Luke Evangelista used a mix of hand-eye coordination and luck to corral an airborne rebound behind the net, then whiff but have it bounce in off Sorokin’s back.
Then the Islanders got into costly penalty trouble, which frustrated them since they hadn’t received a call all night, but the penalties they took were undeniable.
A 5-on-3 caused by a tough-luck Adam Pelech high stick was killed off well, but the Devils used the remaining 5-on-4 to get the equalizer that had appeared to be coming for a while.
Of course, had the Islanders received any makeup calls, it probably wouldn’t have mattered since their power play is terrible. But the lack of calls really stood out when Schaefer was taken down by Luke Hughes on a rush in overtime, leading to a 2-on-0 rush the other way where Jack Hughes scored the game winner.
Was it a penalty? Debatable, though you’ve certainly “seen it given” in the modern NHL where any arm-wrap risks getting called. Schaefer’s leg appeared to give out on its own, but Hughes’ arm was around him in a way that is sometimes whistled if it’s in the second period. It was an ironic turn, given the two young defensemen went at it, gloves on, during that scrum earlier in the game.
Anyway, the Devils went the other way and scored, and Sorokin took the L and five goals against on a night where he made 45 saves, a ton of them with a high degree of difficulty.
The Isles salvage one point to take with them on their way to California.
