Game Preview: Islanders vs Devils

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (2-1-0) VS NEW JERSEY DEVILS (1-2-0)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS
WATCH: ESPN+ | HULU
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050AM
The New York Islanders take on the New Jersey Devils Thursday night at UBS Arena.
The Islanders have won their last two games after losing their season opener, most recently beating the San Jose Sharks 5-2, and the Devils earned their first win of the season on Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Devils came back from a two-goal deficit against Anaheim on Tuesday to defeat the Ducks 4-2, off multi-point efforts from Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes. Dougie Hamilton scored the game-winning goal and Mackenzie Blackwood saved 18 of 20 shots for his first win of the season.
The Islanders scored seven and five goals in their two wins so far this season, showing significant offensive firepower. Goaltenders Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov also have gotten off to strong starts, with Sorokin saving 48 of the 51 shots he faced across his two starts, and Varlamov saving 27 of 29 in his start against the Sharks on Tuesday.
Thursday's game will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+/Hulu. Click here for more information on how to watch.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Anders Lee scored his first goal of the season against the San Jose Sharks. Lee now has four points (1G, 3A) in his first three games of the season. Three out of those four points were assists, an interesting development for Lee, who has scored more goals than assists in five of the last six seasons. Thursday will mark Lee's 600th NHL game, all in an Islanders uniform.
  - Oliver Wahlstrom scored two goals against the Sharks, bringing his team-leading goal total to three so far on the year. Wahlstrom missed the first game of the season for an unspecified medical reason, but has scored four points (3G, 1A) in his first two games, posting multi-point efforts in both.
  - Noah Dobson (2G, 2A) and Brock Nelson (4A) are the only two Islanders to score a point in every game this year. Both players had multi-point outings against the Sharks, with two assists each. Dobson scored a goal in each of the two previous games, including the Islanders' first goal of the season, while Nelson has yet to score his first goal of the year despite leading the team in goals in 2021-22.
  ISLES VS DEVILS
  ISLANDERS ARTICLES
  Talkin' Isles: Micheal Haley
  ISLES VIDEO
  Lambert Pregame
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  GAME EXTRAS
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  - The Islanders have not conceded a goal on the penalty kill so far this season. Through three games, the team has killed off 12 of 12 penalties. The Islanders are one of just four teams in the NHL that have yet to concede a goal on the penalty kill so far this season.
  - The Islanders' defensemen have found the scoresheet on 11 of the Islanders' 13 goals so far this season, and scored six of them directly.

DEVILS NOTES:

• The Devils had another busy offseason, as they acquired goaltender Vitek Vanecek from the Washington Capitals and forward Ondrej Palat from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Vanecek has made just one start so far this season, and saved 17 of 22 shots. Last season with Washington, Vanecek put up a 2.67 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Palat scored 49 points (18G, 31A) in 77 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning last season, and had 21 points (11G, 10A) in 23 playoff games. Palat, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Bolts, scored his first goal as a Devil in the win over Anaheim on Tuesday.
  - The Devils also made a pair of trades, dealing defenseman Ty Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins for John Marino, while also trading Pavel Zacha to the Boston Bruins for Erik Haula.
  - The Devils' leading scorer thus far is Jesper Bratt, with five points (5A) in three games. The Devils re-signed Bratt to a one-year contract this offseason after he scored 73 points (26G, 47A) in 76 games in 2021-22, leading the team in scoring.
  - Mackenzie Blackwood has started two games so far this season after struggling through most of last season with a heel injury. Blackwood appeared in 25 games last year, posting a 3.39 GAA and .892 save percentage. So far this season, Blackwood has posted a 3.06 GAA and an .864 save percentage in two starts, recording one win and one loss.
  - The Devils added 2021-22 Jack Adams finalist Andrew Brunette, formerly with the Florida Panthers, to their bench as an Associate Coach in the offseason