Devils Second Period Surge Tops Islanders | GAME STORY

ELMONT, N.Y. - Jack Hughes and Alexander Holtz both scored on their milestone nights and Timo Meier jumped to the defense of his captain on Sunday evening, as the Devils defeated the Islanders 4-0.

Kaapo Kahkonen manned the Devils net, his first game since Mar. 16 in Arizona and recorded his first shutout since Nov. 29, 2022. Kahkonen made 37 saves against the Islanders. It was the first shutout victory by the Devils this season.

“He was solid, he just looked focused," interim head coach Travis Green said of his goaltender, "Much like the rest of our team. Obviously we hadn’t had a shutout all year, so it was nice to get one tonight, especially as a newer guy (…) to see him get the shutout makes you feel good for him and obviously it’s great for the team.”

"Overall we played a solid game," Meier said, "at the end, we didn't give them much. Kaapo made some unbelievable saves and played really, really well for us. Special teams, it was great. If we play that way, we can be confident that we can win any game."

Opening the second period with a 5-on-3, the Devils needed to take advantage. And Timo Meier got things started. Standing right on Ilya Sorokin’s doorstep, he tapped home Jack Hughes’ shot from below the circle for the 1-0 lead. The goal was Meier’s 23rd, which moved him into a four-way tie with Hughes, Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt for the team lead in goals.

"Just knowing we could come out with the two-man advantage, that’s obviously nice to get a goal there, kind of jump-start the period for us like that and follow it up," Meier said, "I thought after that we played a solid game and we broke out really well, which made it tough for them to forecheck.”

Jack quickly regained the lead in goals, scoring his 24th of the season at 2:57 of the second period, capitalizing off an odd-man rush when three Islanders collided with one another in the Devils zone, paving the way for a line of Hughes, Bratt and Meier.

The Devils made it 3-0 shortly thereafter when Simon Nemec found the puck on the right wall, fighting off Islanders captain Anders Lee to gain possession. Nemec found a wide-open Alexander Holtz on the opposite side of the net, who one-timed Nemec’s pass past Sorokin.

In the opening 6:12 of the second period, the Devils had turned a 0-0 scoreline into a 3-0 score in their favor and they rode it out the rest of the way. Chris Tierney added the Devils fourth goal of the game, hitting the empty net at 14:51, when Islanders coach Patrick Roy opted to pull Sorokin for a 5-on-4 advantage and the Devils begin their road trip with a win on Long Island. 

“We talk about teaching, learning," Green said, "Learn when you play well, learn when you don’t, our team really responded tonight. When you play back to back games and don’t play well that first one, it’s a real short turnaround. We talked about as a player, there’s nothing worse than when you play bad and have to wait a few days and the best thing about it was getting to play again today. We had a real good meeting before the game and our team really responded.”

Here are some observations from the game:

• Meier added a fight to his second-period resume, completing a Gordie Howe Hat Trick, dropping the gloves with Lee after Lee caught Devils captain Nico Hischier in a knee-on-knee hit. In a split second, Meier whipped off his gloves to jump to his captains defense. As the two were being separated by the referees, Lee proceeded to get in some extra hits on Meier, resulting in his game-misconduct. 

For his penalties, Meier recieved a misconduct, an instagator penalty and a fighting major. 

"Pretty clear," Meier said post-game, "Didn't like the hit. Dirty hit. So I stepped in and kind of let him know."

Although Hischier left after the kneeing by Lee, he did return for the start of the third period. 

• Special teams made up a big portion of the first period. The Devils, early on in the first, successfully killed off four straight minutes of the Islanders' penalty-kill. First Santeri Hatakka was called for a hook, followed by, with three seconds remaining on Hatakka's penalty, Erik Haula called for interference. Islanders forward Mat Barzal had two high-quality opportunities on the power play but was thwarted away by Kahkonen. 

To close out the first period the Islanders took three penalties in quick succession giving New Jersey a 5-on-3 man advantage for 1:56 to start the second period. Kahkonen played a role in the Devils' first period power plays, stopping two shorthanded opportunities by New York. 

• Two milestone nights for young Devils forwards: Jack Hughes played his 300th NHL game and Alexander Holtz played in his 100th. Both contributed with goals, while Hughes ended his evening with a goal and an assist. 

• Jack Hughes and Bratt ended the evening tied for the team-lead in points with 69 each. 

• Even before the drop of the puck there was news to report coming out of the Devils. Curtis Lazar did not play this afternoon against the Islanders, he was out with a lower-body injury sustained on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. Also hurt against the Senators was Kurtis MacDermid, who also did not play against the Islanders. With two forwards unavailable, the Devils went with a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen, Santeri Hatakka drawing in to round out the lineup along with Max Willman.