​ELMONT, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 03: Brayden Schenn #10 of the New York Islanders is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal as Dougie Hamilton #7 reacts during the second period at UBS Arena on October 03, 2026 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Steven Ryan/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images First PeriodThe New Jersey Devils controlled the pace of play for the first several minutes of the game, possessing the puck at will. Evan Rodrigues very nearly opened the scoring less than four minutes in when he tipped a Hamilton point shot off the crossbar as the Islanders continued to look too slow for the Devils early on. Amadeus Lombardi, though, took a hooking penalty on Matias Maccelli six and a half minutes in, giving the Islanders a path to get some chances after only having one shot to that point.An early shot from Matthew Schaefer went wide of goal, allowing Dawson Mercer to motor the puck into the offensive zone for a shot attempt. The Devils killed most of the penalty after this, not allowing the Islanders possession deep in the offensive zone until latter half of the second minute. Calum Ritchie got a one-timer chance from the faceoff dot right at the end of the kill, but it knuckled and almost evaded Daws’s glove hand. It bounced down from there and under him, freezing play as the Devils got Lombardi out of the box. Nico Daws would make another big save on the rush less than a minute after the kill, kicking a tip-in from Ondrej Palat on the rush away. He gloved a longer shot from Pageau at the halfway point of the period to send the game to a break.Lombardi would take another penalty for tripping on the defensive blueline, gifting the Islanders another power play with under eight minutes to play in the period. Nico Daws made a huge glove save on a shot from Brayden Schenn, freezing play with 44 seconds to kill. After winning the next draw, Dougie Hamilton cleared the puck to Cody Glass, who tipped the puck over the glass from past center ice, giving them a neutral zone faceoff with 35 seconds to kill. Logan Stanley took a holding penalty on Timo Meier with four minutes to play in the first as Meier was powering through the area below the goal line, giving the Devils their first man advantage of the game. Meier ended up creating the best chance for the Devils in the two minutes, firing a wrist shot high on Sorokin from the faceoff circle that rebounded to the slot. Nico Hischier tried to follow up, but it was stopped and the Islanders cleared the puck. The penalty was killed, and the Devils tried to continue the attack at five-on-five with two minutes to play. Declan Chisholm ended up drawing a tripping call from Victor Eklund, giving the Devils another minute of power play time to close the period out.The Devils didn’t get a scoring chance in that minute, but Casey Cizikas did at the very end. With a puck going down to the corner of the Devils’ defensive zone, Cizikas was the only one within 50 feet of it. He went hard acr