SJinNewJersey
Every single one of us, the devil inside
A little ode to the Islanders logo of yesteryear. Still think it had something to do with Stan Fischler.
The team used the following workflow…
Meier - Hischier - Bratt
Palat - Hughes - Mercer
Sharangovich - Haula - Tatar
Wood - McLeod - Foote / Boqvist / Bastian
Siegenthaler - Hamilton
Graves - Marino
Bahl / Smith - Severso
Vitek Vanecek worked the crease on the starter's side.
Bass Fishin'
Bastian has been out of the lineup since March 12 with an upper-body injury.
"First step and progression of getting back in," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "Getting back into practice. He's been skating on his own. Today back out shooting and in the mix with line rushes. He's progressing along. He should be back in the lineup in the near future."
All Gas, No Breaks
The Devils clinched a playoff spot Saturday night, but the team still has nine games remaining on the schedule and a lot still at stake.
The club has an outside shot at catching Carolina for the top spot in the Metro Division (three points back but the Hurricanes have a game in hand). Even if New Jersey doesn't catch Carolina, the Devils want to lock in the No. 2 seed to get home-ice advantage in the opening round. They have a four-point edge on the New York Rangers.
"Carolina has had a great year. We're chasing them," defenseman Damon Severson said. "We want to set our standards high and not just try to hold our position. We're trying to win every game still."
"The one thing you want to do it maintain a high level of hockey," Ruff said. "You don't want to be sloppy. You want to play your game. You want to make sure you're determined in all three zones. You want to win games. You're going to play them, you have to play to win. You have to keep your level of compete high."
The Devils can't rest on their laurels. And so it may be beneficial that the Devils' next two opponents are their two closest division rivals with the Islanders, who are competing for a playoff spot, tonight and the Rangers, trying to catch the Devils, coming to Jersey Thursday.
"The Islanders are in a fight to maintain their position. The Rangers are a team that's right on our heels," Ruff said. "Two important games for us. Both of these rivals are right next door."
Back In
Severson has played nine seasons for the Devils and has only took part in one playoff series (2018). Clinching a postseason berth was all the more meaningful to him.
"It's exciting because there aren't many of us on the team since the last time we were in the playoffs," "It's been a long time for me. A lot of tough years here. I get we were in a rebuild and stuff like that. It's part of the whole process. To finally be able to say we clinched a playoff spot with games still to play is exciting."
TV: MSGSN; Pre-game show starts at 7:00 p.m. ET
RADIO: Devils Hockey Network; Pre-game show starts at 7:20 p.m. ET
Head-to-Head:
The Devils meet the Islanders for the third and final time this season. The teams have split the first two games with both teams winning on the road. New Jersey won, 4-1, on Oct. 20 while the Islanders won, 6-4, at Prudential Center on Dec. 9.
Nico Hischier has two goals and four points against New York. Jesper Bratt has four assists in the season series. Hischier, Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat all had two goals. Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders with three assists while Anders Lee and Brock Nelson each posted two goals.
Devils Team Scope:
The Devils clinched their first playoff berth since 2018 Saturday night while picking up their 47th win and 100th point of the season. The last time New Jersey had 100 points was in 2011-12.
The team is still within striking distance of Carolina for the top spot Metro Division, trailing by three points. Though the Hurricanes have a game in hand and New Jersey has only nine remaining games.
Jack Hughes leads the Devils with 40 goals and 86 points. Hughes is the ninth player in franchise history to reach 40 goals in a season, the latest being Zach Parise's 45 in 2008-09. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton has a career-high 19 goals, that set the Devils' franchise record for goals in a single season by a blueliner. The Devils have four 30-plus goal scorers on the team in Hughes (40), Timo Meier (35), Jesper Bratt (31), Hischier (30). Goaltender Vitek Vanecek has 29 wins on the season.
Islanders Team Scope:
The Islanders are fighting for a spot in the post-season. They currently sit in the first Wild Card position with 83 points. They've played two more games than Pittsburgh (82 points) and Florida (79). New York, which is coming off a 2-0 loss to Buffalo Saturday that snapped an 11-game home winning streak, has gone 6-3-1 in its last 10 games.
Brock Nelson leads the club with 32 goals and 67 points, while Mathew Barzal has a team-best 37 assists to go with 51 points. Anders Lee has 27 goals on the year and former Devil Zach Parise has 20. Goalie Ilya Sorokin is 26-19-7 between the pipes and ranks fourth in the NHL with a 2.41 goals-against average and third with a .923 save percentage.
By the Numbers:
The Devils have 24 comebacks this season, which leads the NHL.
New Jersey ranks second in the NHL with 26 road victories.
Hischier has a six-game scoring streak (2g-7a).
Parise is the first Islander skater over 35 years old to post 20 goals since Mike Sillinger in 2005-06.
Sorokin is 6-1-2 in his past nine starts.
Injury Report:
Devils
Nathan Bastian (Upper-body, day-to-day)
Curtis Lazar (Lower-body, day-to-day)
Jonathan Bernier (Hip, LTIR)
Islanders
Mathew Barzal (Lower-body)
Sebastian Aho (Upper-body)
Oliver Wahlstrom (Lower-body)
PRE-GAME STORY
ELMONT, N.Y. - The Devils held their morning skate at UBS Arena ahead of facing the Islanders. The team had all expected players on the ice and injured forward Nathan Bastian (upper-body).The team used the following workflow…
Meier - Hischier - Bratt
Palat - Hughes - Mercer
Sharangovich - Haula - Tatar
Wood - McLeod - Foote / Boqvist / Bastian
Siegenthaler - Hamilton
Graves - Marino
Bahl / Smith - Severso
Vitek Vanecek worked the crease on the starter's side.
Bass Fishin'
Bastian has been out of the lineup since March 12 with an upper-body injury.
"First step and progression of getting back in," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "Getting back into practice. He's been skating on his own. Today back out shooting and in the mix with line rushes. He's progressing along. He should be back in the lineup in the near future."
All Gas, No Breaks
The Devils clinched a playoff spot Saturday night, but the team still has nine games remaining on the schedule and a lot still at stake.
The club has an outside shot at catching Carolina for the top spot in the Metro Division (three points back but the Hurricanes have a game in hand). Even if New Jersey doesn't catch Carolina, the Devils want to lock in the No. 2 seed to get home-ice advantage in the opening round. They have a four-point edge on the New York Rangers.
"Carolina has had a great year. We're chasing them," defenseman Damon Severson said. "We want to set our standards high and not just try to hold our position. We're trying to win every game still."
"The one thing you want to do it maintain a high level of hockey," Ruff said. "You don't want to be sloppy. You want to play your game. You want to make sure you're determined in all three zones. You want to win games. You're going to play them, you have to play to win. You have to keep your level of compete high."
The Devils can't rest on their laurels. And so it may be beneficial that the Devils' next two opponents are their two closest division rivals with the Islanders, who are competing for a playoff spot, tonight and the Rangers, trying to catch the Devils, coming to Jersey Thursday.
"The Islanders are in a fight to maintain their position. The Rangers are a team that's right on our heels," Ruff said. "Two important games for us. Both of these rivals are right next door."
Back In
Severson has played nine seasons for the Devils and has only took part in one playoff series (2018). Clinching a postseason berth was all the more meaningful to him.
"It's exciting because there aren't many of us on the team since the last time we were in the playoffs," "It's been a long time for me. A lot of tough years here. I get we were in a rebuild and stuff like that. It's part of the whole process. To finally be able to say we clinched a playoff spot with games still to play is exciting."
PREVIEW
DEVILS (45-19-8) at ISLANDERS (37-28-9)TV: MSGSN; Pre-game show starts at 7:00 p.m. ET
RADIO: Devils Hockey Network; Pre-game show starts at 7:20 p.m. ET
Head-to-Head:
The Devils meet the Islanders for the third and final time this season. The teams have split the first two games with both teams winning on the road. New Jersey won, 4-1, on Oct. 20 while the Islanders won, 6-4, at Prudential Center on Dec. 9.
Nico Hischier has two goals and four points against New York. Jesper Bratt has four assists in the season series. Hischier, Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat all had two goals. Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders with three assists while Anders Lee and Brock Nelson each posted two goals.
Devils Team Scope:
The Devils clinched their first playoff berth since 2018 Saturday night while picking up their 47th win and 100th point of the season. The last time New Jersey had 100 points was in 2011-12.
The team is still within striking distance of Carolina for the top spot Metro Division, trailing by three points. Though the Hurricanes have a game in hand and New Jersey has only nine remaining games.
Jack Hughes leads the Devils with 40 goals and 86 points. Hughes is the ninth player in franchise history to reach 40 goals in a season, the latest being Zach Parise's 45 in 2008-09. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton has a career-high 19 goals, that set the Devils' franchise record for goals in a single season by a blueliner. The Devils have four 30-plus goal scorers on the team in Hughes (40), Timo Meier (35), Jesper Bratt (31), Hischier (30). Goaltender Vitek Vanecek has 29 wins on the season.
Islanders Team Scope:
The Islanders are fighting for a spot in the post-season. They currently sit in the first Wild Card position with 83 points. They've played two more games than Pittsburgh (82 points) and Florida (79). New York, which is coming off a 2-0 loss to Buffalo Saturday that snapped an 11-game home winning streak, has gone 6-3-1 in its last 10 games.
Brock Nelson leads the club with 32 goals and 67 points, while Mathew Barzal has a team-best 37 assists to go with 51 points. Anders Lee has 27 goals on the year and former Devil Zach Parise has 20. Goalie Ilya Sorokin is 26-19-7 between the pipes and ranks fourth in the NHL with a 2.41 goals-against average and third with a .923 save percentage.
By the Numbers:
The Devils have 24 comebacks this season, which leads the NHL.
New Jersey ranks second in the NHL with 26 road victories.
Hischier has a six-game scoring streak (2g-7a).
Parise is the first Islander skater over 35 years old to post 20 goals since Mike Sillinger in 2005-06.
Sorokin is 6-1-2 in his past nine starts.
Injury Report:
Devils
Nathan Bastian (Upper-body, day-to-day)
Curtis Lazar (Lower-body, day-to-day)
Jonathan Bernier (Hip, LTIR)
Islanders
Mathew Barzal (Lower-body)
Sebastian Aho (Upper-body)
Oliver Wahlstrom (Lower-body)
Attachments
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