Takeaways: Isles Head Into Olympic Break with 3-1 Win Over Devils

Before Bo Horvat headed off to the Olympics, he made sure to send the New York Islanders into the Olympic Break with a win.

Horvat (1G, 1A) broke a 1-1 deadlock with 3:27 to play in the third period, while Casey Cizikas and Mathew Barzal (ENG) also scored for the Islanders, who defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Thursday night at Prudential Center.

“We wanted to end on a good note and end with a win, especially going into the break,” Horvat said. “Maybe not our best five-on-five effort tonight, I think we can play a lot better, but at the same time, we found a way to get it done and it just feels good to get that win.”

With the win, the Islanders (69 points) extended their winning streak to two games and enter the break in third place in the Metropolitan Division, four points up on the Columbus Blue Jackets (65 points), though Columbus holds two games in hand. The Isles are also one point back of the Pittsburgh Penguins (70 points) who also hold two games in hand.

“We just had six games in nine days, five of them against division opponents and those wear on you,” Cizikas said. “To finish four and two through that going into the break is definitely big for the team.”

Ilya Sorokin stopped 23-of-24 shots for his 20^th win of the season, earning third star honors.

Jake Allen stopped 11-of-13 shots in the loss. Nico Hischier scored the lone goal for the Devils.

With the win, the Islanders also sweep the season series from the Devils for the first time since 2018-19.

TAKEAWAYS

- The result looked good on Thursday, but the path to it was a tough one for the Islanders, who recorded a season-low 14 shots in the game. The Isles were limited to two shots on goal in the first period, a total that didn’t count a handful of dangerous look such as Ondrej Palat’s shot off the crossbar, or an Emil Heineman shot through the crease. While they were outshot 6-2 in the opening frame, they out-attempted the Devils 18-16.

The shots doubled, but didn’t exactly flow in the second period either, as the Isles were held to 12 total shot attempts, while the Devils generated 23 attempts (12 SOG). Dissatisfied with their second period – which included a late tying goal from Hischier – the Isles regrouped in the third period and slowly, but surely, pushed back.

“No one wanted to leave this building without a win,” Head Coach Patrick Roy said. “That’s what happened in the third period, we kind of pushed and we started holding onto pucks and more puck position in the o-zone. It’s just a matter of time sometimes before you have a chance or score a goal.”

The patience paid off as Horvat came through with an individual effort late, winning a faceoff forward and making a nifty move around an Allen poke check. The goal was his third in the last two games and accounted for his 600^th career point. He picked up point 601 with an assist on Barzal’s empty-netter, which extended Barzal’s goal streak to four games.

- On a night where the offense wasn’t coming easy, Cizikas got the team going by knocking in a rebound at the 6:30 mark. Roy praised Cizikas, Kyle MacLean and Marc Gatcomb – who all factored in on the goal for playing “simple and smart hockey.” Cizikas’s teammates thought so too, as he took home the Iron Man mask for player of the game.

- Sorokin was sharp as usual on Thursday, but the save of the game belonged to Adam Pelech, who made a skate save on Lenni Hameenaho in the second period on a wide-open net.

- Back to Sorokin, he’s now tied with Chico Resch for the second-most 20-win seasons for an Islanders goalie with five. Billy Smith holds the franchise record with eight, 20-win seasons.

- Cal Ritchie looked sharp in his first game back from a lower-body injury. Ritchie skated 13:54, but had some jump and was passing the puck well all game. Ritchie said he felt good in his return, especially after missing six games.

NEXT GAME:

Not for a while. The Isles are off for the Olympic break and will reconvene on Feb. 26 in Montreal. Till then, enjoy watching Bo Horvat, Ondrej Palat and Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina.