Game Preview: Islanders vs Devils

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (7-6-2) VS NEW JERSEY DEVILS (11-5-0) 

7 P.M. | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS  

HOW TO WATCH/STREAM: MSGSN, MSG+ ON DAZN, ESPN+ 

HOW TO LISTEN: 88.7 FM WRHU | 103.9FM LI NEWS | 92.5FM THE BEACON | ISLES + UBS ARENA APP 

The New York Islanders conclude their three-game homestand at UBS Arena with the second meeting against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday at 7 p.m.  

The Islanders are hosting Military Appreciation Night, and the first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive an Isles camo hat, presented by Ford.  

The Isles have dropped consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season following a 5-3 defeat to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday.  

Brayden Schenn and Victor Eklund each recorded a goal and an assist as the Isles erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2. However, William Carrier scored the game-winner with 5:08 remaining in the third period to propel the Hurricanes to an NHL-best 13 wins.  

Read the full takeaways from Thursday’s game here. 

The meeting with the Devils is the sixth straight matchup for the Islanders against a team currently holding a playoff spot. The Islanders faced three straight divisional leaders in that span and will face a Devils squad that’s second in the Metropolitan Division with a 11-5-0 record.  

The Islanders won convincingly the first time these two teams played with a dominant 6-0 shutout in their second game of the season. Six different Isles scored in the win and Ilya Sorokin made 37 saves.

However, the Devils are a different team since that Oct. 3 matchup after adding three-time Vezina Trophy winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck from the Winnipeg Jets for four players and two draft picks. 

The trade capped the season-opening saga between Hellebuyck and the Jets organization as Hellebuyck requested a trade, failed to report to training camp and was suspended by the team prior to the deal.  

The Isles are the front end of a back-to-back for the Devils who face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday and it’s unclear if Hellebuyck will start, but the trade has injected a fresh energy into the surging Devils.  

“I think confidence is probably the biggest thing you see out of that group since the trade,” Head Coach Pete DeBoer said. “Having a guy like that gives you some swagger back there that you can make mistakes, and it's not going to cost you and with a team like that, as offensively gifted as they are, that leash to be able to push things offensively knowing you got a guy back there like that, that gives you that confidence.”

PROJECTED LINEUP

DeBoer shook up the lines during practice on Friday as Emil Heineman was on the top line with Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri. Ondřej Palát was moved up for Heineman’s spot alongside Schenn and Eklund, while Simon Holmström was with JG Pageau and Anthony Duclair.  

Read a full breakdown of the line changes here. 

"Just moving some things around," DeBoer said of the changes. "That's going to be a normal thing here. Not looking for wholesale changes, but tweaks. I think to try and get a little bit more out of individual groups."  

Defenseman Ben Hutton – who signed a one-year contract on Thursday following his PTO – was alongside Matt Kessel in practice, a potential indicator he could be making his Isles debut. However, DeBoer said he hasn’t made any lineup decisions going into Saturday.  

Here’s how the Isles lined up during practice on Friday.  

Emil Heineman – Bo Horvat – Kyle Palmieri 
Ondřej Palát – Brayden Schenn – Victor Eklund 
Simon Holmström – JG Pageau – Anthony Duclair   
Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Mitchell Chaffee  

Logan Stanley – Matthew Schaefer 
Adam Pelech – Tony DeAngelo 
Ben Hutton – Matt Kessel  
Scott Mayfield  

Non Contact: Mathew Barzal, Matias Maccelli, Ryan Pulock

SEASON SERIES 

The Islanders lead the season series 1-0 following their 6-0 win in the home opener, a game in which 11 different Isles recorded at least a point.  

Five Islanders had a multi-point effort including Schenn (1G, 1A), Matthew Schaefer (2A) and Eklund (1G, 1A) who had a memorable night with his first NHL goal on his birthday.  

Remaining matchups: 

New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils: Jan. 16, 2027, 7 p.m., Prudential Center 

New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils: April 8, 2027, 7 p.m., Prudential Center

SCOUTING THE DEVILS

The Devils have won nine of their last 11 games including each of the last three. They’ve scored at least four goals in eight of those 11 games and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games. 

New Jersey is paced by 2026 Olympics golden goal scorer Jack Hughes, who leads the Devils in assists (13), points (21) and is tied with Arseny Gritsyuk for the team lead in goals (8).  

Jack’s brother Luke Hughes has six goals, the second most by a defenseman in the NHL this season. Jesper Bratt is second on the team in scoring with 15 points (3G, 12A) and had the overtime winner in the Devils 5-4 overtime win over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.  

Offseason additions with veterans Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist – both of which acquired from the Florida Panthers for goaltender Jacob Markstrom – and free agent signing Anthony Mantha have all complemented the Devils top-end talent.  

Hellebuyck is 4-0-0 with a 2.44 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage in his starts with the Devils this season. Jake Allen is 5-3-0 with a 3.11 GAA and a .887 save percentage.