Here are some observations from the game:
• The Devils are in a unique position as their final four games of the regular season have no bearing on their standing or playoff implications. New Jersey is locked into the No. 3 spot in the Metro and will face Carolina no matter what in Round One. Thus, the most important aspect for all these games is to escape healthy. The Devils are down to just two games remaining now, and so far so good on the injury front.
"It’s frustrating. You play the game to win," Luke Hughes said. "Even if the points don’t matter, you play the game to win and you play the full 60. Obviously, I’m disappointed. We played hard tonight. Pucks just didn’t go our way, we just have to keep going and bring our A Game next game."
• A big bright spot was the play of goaltender Jacob Markstrom. He stopped 21 of 22 shots in the game, including several from high danger areas. His best save was on a breakaway from Alexander Romanov, getting the shot with the shaft of his stick.
“I thought Marky was excellent today,” Keefe said. “Marky was really solid, though not tested a great deal. He was really solid, which is a positive.”
• The Islanders took advantage of a miscue to open the scoring in the final minute of the second period. Timo Meier had the puck and was skating back into his own zone. He tried to make a lateral pass to Brian Dumoulin. However, Horvat jumped the lane and had the puck all alone atop the crease. He then teed a perfect shot into the far top corner for the score.
The Devils nearly challenged the goal play for being offside. They even called timeout to buy some more time. But then opted not to. It was a close call, but nothing at all definitive could be seen.
“We thought it was real close to offside. We only had one view of it,” Keefe said. “We thought if we bought a little more time we could get another replay or two. Unfortunately, all the camera feeds int eh building didn’t cooperate and didn’t offer us much.”
• Paul Cotter was given a match penalty and game misconduct in the second period after his elbow clipped the head of Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech that bloodied his face and sent him to the locker room and out for the rest of the game.
In an inspiring effort, the Devils PK unit killed off all five minutes unscathed. In fact, New York only managed one shot on goal and limited offensive zone time.
“I loved the way the guys responded on that. The group pulling together and doing a nice job on that one,” Keefe said. “That has the potential to go real bad for you if you don’t respond. I thought the group responded really well."
• Even Devils forward Timo Meier got in on the PK action. He took a regular shift and contributed in a full-team effort.
“I tried to use more of my bench. Use more guys," Keefe said. "Even Timo Meier, I put him out there, it might have been his first penalty kill shift of the season, and he did a tremendous job for us. I just didn’t want guys sitting for too long.”
• The Islanders thought they scored the game’s opening goal on the power play in the first period. When a shot went off Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom and off of Bo Horvat. However, Horvat punched the puck into the net with his glove inadvertently and the goal was disallowed.
