Takeaways: Islanders Rookies Fall 4-3 in Shootout to Devils Rookies

The New York Islanders fell 4-3 in a shootout against the New Jersey Devils in a Rookie Scrimmage on Tuesday night at Northwell Health Ice Center. 

Victor Eklund (1G, 1A), Cole Eiserman and Layne Gallacher recorded the Isles’ goals. 

Shane Lachance, Ben Steeves and Christophe Tellier each recorded a goal for New Jersey. Tellier delivered the tying goal with a shot through traffic to send it to overtime.

Lenni Hameenaho and Jermey Wilmer, both converted goals to seal the win for the Devils in the shootout.

With the shootout loss, the Isles and Devils rookies split the scrimmage series 1-0-1.

TAKEAWAYS

Cole Eiserman and Victor Eklund’s chemistry continues to build, as the two linked up on Eiserman’s second period goal, with Eklund leading a rush up the ice, creating space and finding Eiserman for the tally.

“He’s lethal,” Eklund said of Eiserman. “His shot and his finishing.”

The two prospects, who have skated together all throughout Rookie Camp, had a good day on the stat sheet.

Eklund scored his second goal in as many games, and Eiserman tallied his third goal in two games.

From behind the net, Luca Romano, who skated with Eiserman and Eklund, found Eklund cutting in on the right side. Eklund let one rip and found the back of the net to tally the Islanders' first goal of the evening in the second period.

 “He plays with the physicality; he's a dog with the bone,” Hamilton Hammers Head Coach Jay McKee said. “We all know he's very skilled-- has a great shot, great playmaking, but he's very strong on his feet, and he's a guy that the style of play that he plays with is contagious. He hunts pucks, he stays on, and he gets physical with guys. He's an exciting player for sure.”

Eklund continued to showcase his playmaking skills throughout the second period. He stripped the puck in the neutral zone and created space for himself as the Devils’ defense backed off. Eklund dished Eiserman to his left, and Eiserman put it away to pot New York’s second goal of the contest.

The duo looked like a well-oiled machine. Eklund looked fearless in front of the net and was not afraid to let it rip if he saw an opportunity.

While Eiserman’s three goals in two games stood out to fans, it was his play away from the puck that stuck out to McKee during  Rookie Camp.

“He’s a skilled player, and he’s going to have a lot of success,” McKee said of Eiserman. “Even this game, just some small details in the D-zone that we kind of caught in video last game, and he’s been great.”

Layne Gallacher lit the lamp on a Jesse Nurmi assist in the Isles three-goal second period.

After sitting out Sunday in New Jersey, defenseman Isaiah George made his first scrimmage appearance of the 2026 Rookie Camp, skating with Vladimir Dravecky. George was also tapped to start in the overtime period.

“It was good,” George said. “It was good to shake off the rust, get that game feeling leading up to the game, and then playing. I thought it was good to see these first games that were going be perfect. I just like how it felt out there.”

With Dravecky skating with George, Kashawn Aitcheson skated with Calle Odelius on a new d-pair. Aitcheson, the 17^th-overall pick in 2025, mixed it up, getting mixed up with Steeves, while maintaining tough defense.

“I just want to keep playing my game. Play physical, play with some jam, play with speed,” Aitcheson said. “Be good defensively and make plays offensively, and just kind of want to bring that overall game and try and showcase myself that way.”

Aitcheson showcased his defensive prowess, breaking up a breakaway early in the first period with his body, knocking Josh Filmon off the puck.

Joshua Kotai played the entire game between the pipes. He looked mobile, moving to his right to make a brilliant save with traffic in front of the net in the first period, and stepped up during the penalty kill.

“I thought he made some fantastic saves, especially in the first period on the penalty kill,” McKee said on Kotai’s outing. “Come up with some real big saves to keep the game tight, and those are momentum swingers.”

The Isles fans showed out at the Northwell Health Ice Center, as upwards of 1,000 fans supported the rookies in the contest.

“I think it's awesome to see the fan support,” George said. “It gets exciting for the season ahead. We have some of the best fans on Long Island, so I think it just shows little things like this, like a rookie camp game having 1,000 fans.”