Here are some observations from the game:
• The opening period was played at a fast pace, with end-to-end action at both ends of the ice. The game flowed especially well early, with long uninterrupted stretches. From 2:02 to 8:25 of the first period, there wasn’t a single stoppage, with both teams trading chances throughout.
• Brett Pesce's goal was his first since March 13, last season. And the goal was born out of a shift of hard work by this Hischier line.
A great, grinding shift from Timo Meier, who used his strength and frame to shield the puck down low and fend off multiple Islanders' attempts to wrestle possession away. Meier kept the play alive down low and forced the puck free before Dawson Mercer sent a short pass up to Nico Hischier near the side of the net.
Rather than forcing a play from in tight, Hischier showed his awareness, spotting Pesce unattended at the top of the circle and sending the puck back to him, where he unleashed a shot that eluded David Rittich and right into the back of the Islanders' net.
Meier won't be credited with an official assist, but the sequence doesn’t happen without his work along the boards and below the goal line.
• Hischier did pick up the primary assist, however, which was his 270th career assist, tying Bobby Holik for the 11th most assists in franchise history.
• Simon Holmstrom’s goal came off an unfortunate miscue by Jacob Markstrom. The Devils' goaltender left his net to rim the puck along the boards in an attempt to clear the zone, but it took an unexpected bounce off of Jonas Siegenthaler, who was also chasing down the puck, and it landed directly on Holmstrom’s stick in front of an empty net. With the play developing instantly, Markstrom was stranded at the half wall and had no chance to recover in time to protect his crease.
“They came too hard on their forecheck and I was just trying to help the D men and go off the boards to our second layer, which he had time and can turn the play offense instead," Markstrom said, clearly dejected. "I hit Siegy’s skate. That’s on me. All things considered, I should have just stayed in the net and it should have been a 1-nothing game."
"It’s a tough play emotionally, to give up one like that, for free essentially,” Keefe said of the play. “It’s hard, especially when you haven’t been scoring, you know that you have to find another one to win. But at the same time, Marky made some big saves for us here in the game today, especially in the early going that allowed us to find our legs, so that kind of goes like that sometimes. But, obviously that was a big moment in the game, it evens the score, most importantly, but its just another thing, where if we score more, have a little more of a cushion, we probably don’t even ask me about it.”
It was a rare blemish for Markstrom against the Islanders, a team he has consistently played well against, and an especially unlucky moment in what was otherwise an excellent performance in net.
• In his second game back, Jack Hughes still has not taken a faceoff, which isn't necessarily unusual, given he has been recovering from a finger injury. Whenever Hughes's line is tasked with starting a shift, a combination of Cody Glass and Nico Hischier would combine to assist off the draw before swapping out for a winger, if the play permits.
• New Jersey has gone two straight games without taking a penalty.
