ELMONT, N.Y.— It’s never a good look for an NHL team to surrender what could be mistaken for a football score, but that’s exactly what the New Jersey Devils endured at the hands of the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, as the Isles piled on a touchdown and two-point conversion in a 9–0 rout to set a franchise record for their largest margin of victory.
The Islanders, who currently sit second in the Metropolitan Division at 24–15–4, appear poised to return to the NHL playoffs for the first time since the 2022–23 season and are increasingly looking like the class of the tri-state area, with both the Devils and Rangers remaining out of the playoff hunt.
Tuesday’s blowout victory was a showcase for both Patrick Roy’s offense and defense. In the rout, 11-year veteran Anthony Duclair posted the first five-point game of his career—a hat trick with two assists—while Casey Cizikas also made his presence felt, recording a pair of goals and an apple.
Between the pipes, Ilya Sorokin was sensational for the home side, turning aside all 44 shots he faced to record the shutout and set the franchise record for most shutouts in Islanders history in the process.
Roy remained all business when asked about the significance of the win after the contest, sharing that “The guys wanted to play a 60-minute game and we did it offensively. That’s what we wanted. We made sure we started from the start to the end and not sit on any leads. That’s what our guys did.”
Meanwhile, it was a night to forget for Devils goaltender Jacob Markström, whose almost unthinkably low .625 save percentage was exacerbated by the fact that New Jersey still generated 20 more shots on goal—resulting in one of the most inefficient goaltending performances in recent memory.
Still, many questioned Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe’s decision to keep Markström in net as the game unraveled rather than pulling him early, including Hockey Hall of Famer and former Rangers great Henrik Lundqvist.
“I don’t like that. You’ve gotta protect your goalies a little bit. I don’t like that one; c’mon coach,” Lundqvist, an analyst with TNT, said after the game.
The Islanders will look to keep the momentum going when they face the Nashville Predators on Thursday at 8 p.m., while the Devils will aim to put the performance behind them ahead of their own Thursday matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 p.m.