The New Jersey Devils reach Long Island tonight with momentum they have not had to manufacture. They have won seven of their last eight games, and this is their last trip to Long Island this season as they take on the New York Islanders.
That run matters because the Devils are 11-5-0 and have had to work for it. Their last two games both went to overtime, and the one real flat spot in that stretch came in Colorado in the second half of a back-to-back. Tonight is different: it is a division game with the standings still tight, and it comes after the Islanders already handed the Devils a 6-0 loss on October 3.
For the Islanders, the search for offense and stability runs through a few names. Mathew Barzal has not played this season and is still in a non-contact jersey, Ryan Pulock is also in a non-contact jersey, and Matias Maccelli remains out after putting up six points in eight games before getting hurt. Since then, the Islanders are 3-3-1, which is a reminder that the group has managed to stay afloat without being whole.
What they have leaned on instead is production from the top and discipline at the back end. Bo Horvat has seven goals and seven assists, with four of the Islanders' seven power-play goals. Matthew Schaefer is producing at a point per game and has assisted on four power-play goals. Kyle Palmieri has three goals and one assist in 15 games, Ondrej Palat has two goals and two assists, Anthony DeAngelo has four points so far, and Brayden Schenn has five goals and six assists. On the penalty kill, the Islanders have succeeded on 86.54% of their chances, with Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock, Logan Stnaley, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Simon Holmstrom all graded well there, and Emil Heineman and Scott Mayfield standing out in more limited minutes.
That is where the matchup turns. Natural Stat Trick does not rate much of the Islanders as especially strong at five-on-five, but their penalty killing gives them a way to drag a game into the kind of grind that can erase talent gaps for long stretches. The Devils should also see Scott Mayfield tonight because of Pulock's injury, which adds another layer to a game that already carries the memory of the shutout in October. New Jersey has been the sharper team for most of the month; the Islanders have already shown they can make that advantage disappear in one night.
The broadcast is listed for MSGSN2 and MSGSN/DAZN Streaming on TV, with the Devils Hockey Network on radio. For the Devils, the question is not whether they have been better lately. It is whether they can turn that form into a clean result in the one place where the Islanders have already proved they can stop them cold.
