- The Matchup: New Jersey Devils (22-18-2) @ New York Islanders (23-15-4)
- The Time: 7:30pm EST
- The Broadcast: ESPN+/Hulu, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On Sunday night, the Devils lost to Carolina (what else is new) by a score of 3-1. I’m not going to dive into BooGate in this post. I think at this point, everything that needed to be said about that has already been said in other posts, either from the game thread or throughout the day on Monday. I’m just going to stick with the cold, boring, facts in this section today.
The Devils did not get off to the start they wanted in this game. Carolina got on the board less than 60 seconds into the game on a “goal” from Nikolaj Ehlers. Dawson “Have You Seen Me?” Mercer got the Devils on the board less than 10 minutes into the period and the teams headed into the 1st intermission tied at 1-1. Taylor “Hulkamania” Hall scored at the 7:47 mark of the 2nd period and Logan Stankoven added his 7th goal of the season in the 3rd period to put the game away for Carolina with a final score of 3-1.
Jake Allen gave the Devils a chance to win on Sunday. Recently, both Allen and Markstrom have been doing their jobs, which is what you want to see and what the team needs. The offense however, continues to not be able to do their job at the moment. The Devils went 0 for 5 on the power play on Sunday. Zero conversions. In five chances. I’m not a mathematician, but I’m pretty sure that you will not win many games with a PP that can’t score even 1 goal in 5 tries.
Last Islanders Game
On Saturday, the Islanders defeated Toronto 4-3 in OT. The two teams went scoreless in the 1st period but the Islanders finally took a 1-0 lead less than 2 minutes into the 2nd period. However, Auston Matthews apparently got tired of hearing people ask “what is wrong with Matthews this year?” and scored 2 goals, less than 10 minutes apart to give Toronto a 2-1 lead heading into the 3rd period. New York scored 2 goals in the 3rd, and Toronto scored once to send the game to OT where the phenom Matthew Schaefer scored his 12th of the year to win the game for New York.
Per Amanda Stein, the Devils will face Ilya Sorokin tonight and Schaeffer is day to day (sick) and may or may not play tonight.
Injuries, Roster for Tonight, Yada, Yada, Yada.
The Devils played back to back games on Saturday and Sunday so there was no practice on Monday. There has been no official announcement (though it might come out today), but I would expect Jacob Markstrom to get the start tonight in net. Keefe has alternated Allen and Markstrom for the last 11 games, and I see no reason why that trend won’t continue tonight.
Be on the lookout today for any potential updates regarding Johnathan Kovacevic and/or Paul Cotter. Will Paul Cotter get back into the lineup tonight, or has he played his way off the bench for the time being? Will Kovacevic finally get in a game after getting multiple practices under his belt? We will have to wait and see to find out.
Grimace’s Prediction and 2025-2026 Record Tracker
Grimace is predicting a win tonight yet again. He mentioned that the Islanders defeated the Devils in their previous 2 contests this season and as a result are due for a loss to the Devils. Hopefully he is right and tonight will be a “3rd time is the charm” victory for the Devils.
Grimace’s 2025-2026 Season Prediction record currently stands at 12-9-0.
Your Take
There is a long way to go this season, but I have to admit, it is very strange for it to be January and to see the Islanders ahead of the Devils in the Metropolitan standings. Sure, they are only separated by 4 points, but this is not how the season was supposed to go this year. Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!
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