Game #80 Preview: New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils

After clinching a playoff spot and following their loss to the Penguins, the Devils face the Islanders in their second-to-last home game of the regular season. Let’s take a look at the matchup in this game preview.

The Essentials

Matchup: New York Islanders at New Jersey Devils

Date: April 13th, 2025

Time: 1:00 PM ET

Broadcast: TNT, TruTV, Max

Listen: Devils Hockey Network

The Last Devils Game: The Devils lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2 in their first game after clinching a playoff spot. It was a challenging game for the Devils in terms of puck luck and special teams. New Jersey got off to the start they wanted when Erik Haula scored 15 seconds into the game, and Ondrej Palat scored later in the first, but things went downhill from there. Luke Hughes inadvertently backhanded a puck into his own net near the end of the first frame. Pittsburgh got a deflection off of a skate during a power play to tie things up. The penalty kill allowed Sidney Crosby to tap in a back-breaking goal midway through the third period. The Devils’ power play went zero for three. Pittsburgh buried an empty netter, and that was that. If you’d like to read more about that game, check out Chris’ recap.

The Last Islanders Game: The game against New Jersey will be the second game of a back-to-back for the Isles, having played and lost to the Flyers in a shootout on Saturday afternoon. The scoring kicked off in the second period when Tyson Foerster scored on the power play. Foerster added another goal in the third period. Anders Lee and Noah Dobson added goals to end the second period with the Islanders leading 2-1. Flyers forward Jakob Pelletier notched a goal along with Foerster to take a 3-2 lead late into the third. Bo Horvat pulled the Isles back into the game by scoring with just over one minute left in regulation. However, New York could not earn more than one point, as Flyer Bobby Brink scored the lone goal in the shootout after the overtime period went scoreless. To read more about this game, check out NHL.com’s Gamecenter page.

The Last Devils – Islanders Game: The Devils last played the Islanders on November 9th, 2025, and won 4-3 in overtime. Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway following an alert outlet pass by Dougie Hamilton. It was Hughes’ second goal of the contest. Now Devil Dennis Cholowski and Brock Nelson had scored goals midway through the third period to give New York a 3-1 advantage. However, Dawson Mercer and Stefan Noesen scored late in the third period to tie things up. Noesen scored the game-tying goal with only 50 seconds left on the clock. Jacob Markstom saved 19 shots in the victory. At the time, it was the third win in a row for the Devils. If you’d like to reminisce over this OT win, check out Chris’ game recap.

Recent Momentum: The Devils (41-31-7) have lost two straight to teams with poor records. New Jersey has won three of their last five games and four of the previous ten. The Islanders (34-33-12) were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday with their loss. To make matters worse, New York allowed nine goals to the Rangers last Thursday and has now lost three in a row.

Lineups

New Jersey Devils

The Devils played the following lines against Pittsburgh. Head coach Sheldon Keefe has continued to tinker with the lines, and he is expected to do so again against the Islanders, so this is just a projection. Per Amanda Stein on Devils Now on YouTube, Dougie Hamilton was a full participant in practice but will not play against the Islanders. More on that below. Simon Nemec will start in place of Seamus Casey.

New York Islanders

Per Andrew Gross, the Islanders started the following lines against the Flyers on Saturday. Expect a similar lineup on Sunday. Ilya Sorokin missed Saturday with a lower-body injury, and Marcus Hogberg could start against the Devils. Anthony Duclair is also out following the criticism from Patrick Roy.

What to Watch For

Better Special Teams Play but Don’t Hit the Panic Button

I get it. The Devils clinched a playoff spot and have not played great lately. At the same time, nobody wants to see anyone get injured from this point on. Sheldon Keefe discussed this in his postgame interview following the Penguins game. Keefe mentioned Bratt being able to potentially block a shot that Pittsburgh would eventually score on but did not want to see Bratt get injured in the process. He’s exactly right. That being said, it would be nice to see the special teams bounce back in the final games of the regular season to build momentum heading into the playoff series against Carolina. As of the writing of this post on Saturday afternoon, per NHL.com, New Jersey has a top-five power play and penalty kill. The Islanders are a bottom-five team in both categories. Special teams are certainly a point of emphasis in playoff games (not to mention series), so it would be great to see the special team units playing confidently to finish the regular season.

Islanders Season Stat Leaders

The Isles have three games remaining, but let’s look at the season that was for their players. Anders Lee leads the team in goals with 29, his highest goal total since the 2017-2018 season when he tucked 40. Bo Horvat leads the team in points with 56 and is tied for the lead in assists with 29. Horvat is 12 points shy of his career-high recorded 2023-2024 season when he tallied 33 goals and 35 assists. Defenseman Scott Mayfield leads the team with a +/- record of +17 through his 63 games played. Not surprisingly, Casey Cizikas leads the Islanders with 47 penalty minutes. Ilya Sorokin has recorded a save percentage of .904 per Natural Stat Trick, allowing an average of 2.77 goals per game. Sorokin has saved 8.46 goals above expected.

Dougie Close to Returning

At this point in the season, there isn’t much to say with playoff scenarios for both teams set, so let’s take a brief look forward. Dougie Hamilton fully participated in the final practice to end the regular season. Per Amanda Stein with Devils Now, Sheldon Keefe stated he would like to see Dougie play in a regular season game, but it would all depend on how he was feeling after the practice. He is not playing against the Islanders, but it would be great to see him play against either Boston or Detroit to shake off as much rust as possible. Returning to game speed after an injury is always hard. That speed would be elevated an extra notch, returning to a playoff series. It’s good to see Dougie back with the team. He will be very needed in the playoffs.

Your Thoughts

What will you be watching for in this matchup? Are you looking for the Devils to tighten up anything before entering the first round against Carolina? Thoughts on Dougie returning soon? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you for reading, and GO DEVILS!!!