NHL Game Recap: Devils Take Fourth Straight Loss, 4-3 OT Loss Against Islanders

The Devils returned to New Jersey on Friday, October 25th, hosting the New York Islanders. It was a close game, the Devils fighting back to break their losing streak. However, they took a 4-3 loss in overtime. Nico Hischier, Curtis Lazar, and Jesper Bratt all scored for New Jersey… Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, Kyle Palmieri, and Bo Horvat scored for the New York Islanders. The Devils are back at it on Sunday to hopefully break their four-game losing streak against the Anaheim Ducks.

New Jersey Devils Lineup:

Meier – Hischier – Mercer

Palat – Hughes – Bratt

Cotter – Haula – Noesen

MacDermid – Lazar – Tatar

Dillon – Hamilton

Siegenthaler – Kovacevic

Hughes – Pesce

Allen

Markstrom

New York Islanders Lineup:

Holmstrom – Horvat – Barzal

Tsyplakov – Nelson – Palmieri

Lee – Pageau – Wahlstrom

Cizikas – MacLean – Foudy

Romanov – Dobson

Pelech – Pulock

Reilly – Mayfield

Sorokin

Varlamov

Brock Nelson struck early in the opening frame to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 18:37 after Adam Pelech took the original shot at the left point, and Nelson tipped in a shot from the left face-off circle over Jake Allen’s left shoulder. Right off the face-off in New York’s zone, Nico Hischier tied it 1-1 at 8:25 when Jesper Bratt passed the puck to Hischier, who scored on a snap shot from the slot. This goal was his fifth in the past four games. Anders Lee took the lead back for New York, making it 2-1 with 5:57 remaining in the first period. He scored off a rebound outside the left post on the power play.

Tying it to 2-2 at 14:29 of the middle frame – Curtis Lazar scored his first goal of the season on a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle after Paul Cotter found him. Kyle Palmieri made it 3-2, getting New York’s lead back at 8:32 of the second when he deflected in Alexander Romanov’s shot from the top of the left circle from the high slot past Jake Allen.

Jesper Bratt tied it up to 3-3 late in the third, 1:29 left of regulation, while the Devils pulled Jake Allen for an extra attacker. Originally, Dawson Mercer shot but bounced back… the puck got to Bratt just seconds after Mercer’s attempt.

With 3:51 left in overtime, Bo Horvat won it for the Islanders after taking Mathew Barzal’s cross-ice pass and scoring from the bottom of the right face-off circle on a one-timer.

Jesper Bratt on the overtime loss and how the Devils have been playing recently: “Missing out on the two points is obviously hard. We do a good job fighting back into a position of getting one point… Obviously, it’s a little tough coming in here only getting one point out of it. We were millimeters from almost getting two points and coming in here, celebrating, and instead, we’re having the feeling we have now… Looking at the process of how we have played the last two games, I think we’re taking steps in the right direction. It’s just going to be a matter of time until we can really get on the roll.”

Brett Pesce on the loss and the game coming up next: “Good teams find a way to get points. So, we’ll just keep working at the game, the structure, and just take it day by day,” – “You’re never happy when you lose, right? I guess we’ll take it back-to-back… another big game on Sunday… It’s more about the process. Like I said, we thought we played well enough to win both games. So, just try to build off this.”

Notes:

– Jesper Bratt recorded a goal and an assist… He extended his assist streak to four games, four assists; his career-high assist streak is five games, October 13-25, 2023.

– Jake Allen made a total of 26 saves for New Jersey.

– Prior to their late goal to tie this game, heading into overtime – the Devils tied a game in the final 90 seconds of regulation on December 27th, 2023, a 4-3 overtime victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

– Both Kyle Palmieri and Brock Nelson picked up a goal and an assist.

– Ilya Sorokin made a total of 32 saves for New York.

– Bo Horvat’s four OT goals since the beginning of last season is tied for the most in the NHL with Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor.

– Since being traded to the New York Islanders by the Devils on April 7th, 2021, Kyle Palmieri has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 12 games against New Jersey.