Islanders Grind Out Win Over Devils to Head Into Olympic Break on a High Note
NEWARK - Patrick Roy wasn’t just skating through the motions during the Islanders’ morning session at Prudential Center. When he slammed his stick on the ice, it wasn’t frustration-it was emphasis.
The message was clear: finish strong. And his team heard him loud and clear.
“It was one of those games where everyone knew what it meant,” defenseman Adam Pelech said. “You don’t want to spend the next few weeks thinking about missed chances.”
It wasn’t pretty. The Islanders were outshot 24-14 and spent long stretches on their heels.
But when the final horn sounded, they had banked a 3-1 win over the Devils, completing a season sweep of both New Jersey and the Rangers. That’s how you make a statement heading into a three-week Olympic break.
This win capped a grueling stretch-six games in nine days, five of them against Metropolitan Division opponents, and eight in 13. That’s a meat-grinder of a schedule, and yet the Isles found a way to win four of their last six.
They now sit at 32-21-5, still holding firm in third place in the Metro. One point behind the Penguins, four ahead of the surging Blue Jackets and Capitals.
“It’s massive,” said Bo Horvat, who continues to lead by example. “Not just for the standings, but for our confidence heading into the break. We’re in a good spot.”
Horvat delivered the game-winner late in the third, muscling his way to the crease and flipping a backhander home at 16:33 for his team-leading 24th goal. He wasn’t done-he also picked up his 600th career point by assisting on Mathew Barzal’s empty-netter with just 23.6 seconds left.
The Islanders now get a much-needed breather before resuming play on February 26 in Montreal. But they’ll go into that break with some momentum-and a little swagger.
“It was a grind,” said Casey Cizikas, who opened the scoring midway through the second period with a greasy goal at the top of the crease. “You’re playing divisional games night after night, and that wears on you.
But the guys in this room battled. I’m proud of that.”
The Devils, meanwhile, were without Jack Hughes-who’s off to represent Team USA in Italy but sat out with a lower-body injury. They managed to tie the game 1-1 late in the second on a sharp-angle shot from Nico Hischier, but that was as close as they’d get.
New Jersey has now dropped three straight and five of their last six.
For the Islanders, the difference-maker-again-was Ilya Sorokin. The netminder was sharp throughout, especially in tight. He turned aside several high-danger chances, including a flurry in the second period that could’ve tilted the game.
But perhaps the play of the night didn’t come from the crease. It came from Adam Pelech, who slid across the ice and got his skate on a backdoor chance from Lenni Hameenaho midway through the second. That save might not go on Sorokin’s stat sheet, but it was every bit as important.
“Oh my God, that play that Pelly made was a huge, huge play,” Roy said afterward. “Everybody played a good game-smart, sound hockey.”
There was a shake-up in the lineup, too. Rookie center Cal Ritchie returned after missing six games with a lower-body issue.
That gave Roy the flexibility to make Anthony Duclair a healthy scratch-a decision that came after Duclair was benched for the final two periods of Tuesday’s win over Pittsburgh. Roy pointed to Duclair’s lack of defensive tracking as the reason.
It’s the fourth time this season Duclair has been scratched, despite his offensive upside-including a natural hat trick and five-point night against these same Devils back in early January.
Ritchie’s return also bumped Jonathan Drouin over to left wing on the second line. Drouin, signed to a two-year, $8 million deal in free agency, heads into the break still searching for his first goal in 34 games. His night included a costly neutral-zone turnover that led to a Dawson Mercer breakaway-the shot clanged off the crossbar with under a minute to go in the first.
Former Devil Ondrej Palat, who was traded to the Islanders for Max Tsyplakov on January 27, nearly had a storybook moment against his old squad. He rang one off the post early in the first and was denied twice in the third by Devils goalie Jake Allen. Palat, who’s headed to the Olympics with Czechia, played with noticeable energy but couldn’t quite find the finish.
In the end, this was a grind-it-out kind of win. Not flashy, not dominant-but effective.
The kind of game that good teams find a way to win, even when they don’t have their best stuff. The Islanders didn’t control the pace, but they controlled the scoreboard.
And heading into a long break, that’s what matters most.