The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (11-4-0) versus the New York Islanders (7-6-2). SBN Blog: Lighthouse Hockey
The Time: 7:00 PM ET
The Broadcast: TV — MSGSN, Radio — Devils Hockey Network
Streaky Islanders
There are two trends
and streaks at play tonight. We all know how the Devils have performed at home this season, winning (sometimes by the skin of their teeth) every game so far in front of their home fans. Meanwhile, the New York Islanders are not a dynamo on the road by any means, but they have yet to win or lose a game outside of a streak. They lost three to start the season, then won four, then lost three, then won two, and lost two before shutting the Rangers out at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The Islanders certainly do not want to see the Devils’ home record continue to be perfect, while the Devils want to break the Islanders’ streaky ways.
It makes sense that the Islanders play in such a manner, given the changes to their roster over the offseason. After trading Noah Dobson for draft picks and Emil Heineman, the right side of their defense is comprised of Ryan Pulock, Tony DeAngelo, and Scott Mayfield. DeAngelo is not exactly showing himself to be the offensive force he once was, as he really has not had a good season since he first came back to the league with the Hurricanes in 2021. He is a defensive drag and not creating enough on offense to make up for it. Once lethal on the power play, the Islanders have given up five shorthanded goals and scored only six with DeAngelo on the man advantage since they signed him in the second half of last season, and he does not have a single power play point this season despite already playing over 30 minutes in those situations.
Their power play quarterback is thus Matthew Schaefer, who has three power play goals and two assists out of his 11 total points to start the season. Schaefer, known for his skating ability, can also occasionally fire some hard shots on goal, so it will be interesting to see how the Devils play him today. Currently, the Devils are having trouble running three effective defensive pairs, so playing to contain Schaefer might not always work.
In net for the Islanders, Ilya Sorokin has had a difficult start to his age-30 season. After his shutout of the Rangers, he is up to an .893 save percentage in 10 starts, though David Rittich is doing even worse at an .886 clip. I assume Sorokin will be facing Jacob Markstrom tonight, but I imagine many Devils fans would like to see Jake Allen get another start after his strong win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday afternoon. In my opinion, though, the bigger issue is the defense.
A Different Look on Defense Would Be Appreciated
Dennis Cholowski had a pretty good start to his season, coming in and recording an assist in his first game against the Los Angeles Kings despite not playing at all in October regular season games. It was very respectable, knowing that he has not had playing time and that he still came in ready to play. The problem, then, is that it has seemed like each shift from Cholowski has gotten progressively worse than the last. Of all NHL defenseman with 50 or five-on-five minutes played, Cholowski has the:
- Worst Corsi for percentage (33.03)
- Worst Corsi against per 60 rate (76.73)
- Second-worst shots for percentage (36.73)
- Eighth-worst shots for per 60 rate (18.92)
- 18th-worst shots against per 60 rate (32.58)
- Worst expected goals percentage (23.68)
- Worst expected goals for per 60 rate (1.01)
- Seventh-worst goals against per 60 rate (4.2)
- Second-worst scoring chances for per 60 rate (13.66)
- Second-worst scoring chances against per 60 rate (37.84)
So, surely, Dennis Cholowski has been saddled with the Devils’ underperforming and regularly pinned fourth line, right? This is the order of centers Cholowski has played most to least with:
- Jack Hughes: 23:45 (32.00 CF%, 7-15 shots, 0-2 goals, 18.09 xGF%)
- Juho Lammikko*: 13:16 (42.86 CF%, 2-4 shots, 0-0 goals, 15.55 xGF%)
- Luke Glendening*: 11:19 (13.64 CF%, 2-7 shots, 1-0 goals, 16.94 xGF%)
- Nico Hischier: 7:34 (15.38 CF%, 1-7 shots, 0-1 goals, 6.05 xGF%)
- Cody Glass: 6:48 (61.54 CF%, 3-1 shots, 1-1 goals, 64.85 xGF%)
I have Lammikko and Glendening starred because they have been on the same line over the last two games, but this is an incredibly bad look for any NHL defenseman. To be involved with any line being hemmed in so badly is usually enough for extra players to be immediately sent to the AHL, but to do it with one of the top three centers in the league through the first month of the season? That is no good, and Sheldon Keefe needs to make sure that Dennis Cholowski plays as few minutes as possible with the top six today.
I would prefer that someone else entirely is called up to replace Cholowski, as running two effective pairs puts the team in a terrible spot. But with the team not making any moves so far to follow Brian Halonen being sent to Utica, it appears that any changes to the roster will just be the return of someone like Zack MacEwen. I would love to be proven wrong with a recall of Ethan Edwards, but I’m not expecting anything proactive with the team coming off of consecutive wins.
Fourth Line Deserves Scrutiny, Too
That said, I was not a big fan of sending down Halonen to begin with, considering he was the only person left in the bottom six pool who had scored a goal on the fourth line this season. If you think that sounds wrong, Paul Cotter scored his only goal of the year on the third line with Dawson Mercer on Connor Brown, while Stefan Noesen seems to have firmly moved back into top six duties after he scored one goal with the fourth line after his return from a groin injury. You might also think that Stefan Noesen should return to fourth line duties, considering the Hughes line has not scored in the few games he has played with them. The one problem there is, again, Dennis Cholowski, as the 11-86-63 line has outshot opponents at a two-to-one clip in the minutes they have played with other NHL defensemen.
Luke Glendening has been excellent for the penalty kill this season, as he is the center with the best goals against rates in disadvantaged situations this season. But at this point, I am not sure why Juho Lammikko got the preference over Halonen to play games. Lammikko has not been a difference maker at even strength, and he is not playing at all on the penalty kill despite this being something he was very good at in Vancouver a few seasons ago. I understand that Halonen may have been running low on days to stay with the team before he would have required waivers again, but it would have been nice to see him get more looks to see if he could score more goals on a fourth line that has been so flat on offense that their defensive work is at risk of becoming less valuable to the team. I think the team needs more from them.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of tonight’s game? Do you think the Devils will handle the Islanders? Do you think the Devils will be able to exploit the Islanders’ weak points while hiding their own? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
