Islanders Sink Devils | GAME STORY

NEWARK, NJ - New York Islanders forward Anthony Duclair notched his fourth career hat trick and goaltender Ilya Sorokin stopped all 45 shots against as the hometown Islanders topped the Devils, 9-0, at UBS Arena Tuesday night.

The same issues that plagued the Devils the last time they visited UBS Arena came back to haunt them in the first period. After surrendering the game’s opening goal on a broken play to Mathew Barzal, two bad offensive zone pinches led to two rush goals (Duclair’s first two of the game) and New York built an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

Duclair notched his hat trick in the second period while Simon Holmstrom, Casey Cizikas (2), Tony DeAngelo, Calum Ritchie would added tallies for the Isles.

Duclair finished the game with four points (3g-1a) while Barzal totaled three (1g-2a).

"It's embarrassing," goaltender Jacob Markstrom said. "We want to apologize to Devils fans. I have to be better, stop more pucks. We put up 40-plus shots. They put up 20 and score nine. I'm embarrassed for myself and for my teammates, the team, the fans. It's not good enough. I have to be better."

The Devils have now lost the first game of a four-game road trip. Their next stop is in Pittsburgh Thursday night.

"Not good enough at all," captain Nico Hischier said. "We have to rinse it as fast as possible and I really expect a big reaction the next game.

"I'm in charge of that. I'm expecting myself to have a big response game the next game and I'm expecting my team to have the same."

Here are some observations from the game:

• The Devils came away with zero goals in the game despite registering 45 shots on goal. New Jersey created a number of high-quality scoring chances and at times really dictated play. But their inability to finish combined with some superb goaltending by Sorokin left them with nothing to show for it.

Hischier: "We did a lot of good things in the offensive zone but we just couldn't score. It's been the story of the season so far. We have to find ways though."

• In the morning, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe talked about his team’s troubles in the last outing at UBS Arena against the Islanders. He pointed to sloppy plays in the offensive zone by the Devils that led to turnovers, led to transitions and led to Islanders’ rush chances. The Devils were once again victimized by that play and it resulted in two goals against in the opening period that put the team in a 3-0 hole after 20 minutes.

Dillon: "You have to find what the other team's weaknesses are. We talked about those. We had a game plan for it and we absolutely did not execute it, and paid the price for it."

Brett Pesce attempted to pinch down the wall to keep a puck in the O zone, but an Islanders chip out trapped Pesce and led to a 3-on-1. The Devils scrambled to get back and didn’t accurately coordinate which player was picking up the opposition. As such, Duclair was allowed to walk right into the left dot and rip a shot into the net.

On the second goal, defenseman Brenden Dillon joined the rush and as the Devils chipped the puck into the offensive zone, he joined in on the forecheck. However, none of the Devils forwards reloaded to handle his abandoned defensive position. That left Colton White as the lone man back covering the entire blue line. He shaded too far to the strong side and Duclair was able to sneak into the weak side unopposed and with open ice. Once he received the pass, Duclair skated again to the left circle and snapped in another shot for his second goal of the period.

• Duclair completed the hat trick (his first 2019) with a one-timed snap from the right circle at 3:29 of the second period. The goal made it 4-0 and pretty much iced the game.