Devils Lose Lead and Game to Isles | GAME STORY

The Devils failed to hold onto 1-0 and 2-1 leads in an eventual 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena Saturday night.
Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes both scored in the first period. Rookie goaltender Akira Schmid made his NHL debut and stopped 25 of 29 shots.
For the Islanders, whom won their first ever game in their new building, the goal scorers were Noah Dobson, Andy Greene, Zach Parise and Jean-Gabriel Pageau.
"I thought throughout the night we skated well. Moved the puck well and skated well," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "That's the type of third period you get in against a good team when you're protecting the lead.
"They gave me almost everything they have. Until we start finishing some of our opportunities we can rewind these press conferences and keep going back to them."
The Devils finished the week with a 1-2-1 record.
"Losing sucks, but we have to do it as a group. It's tough," P.K. Subban said. "The answers are in that locker room."

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WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils travel to Philadelphia to play the Flyers next Tuesday. The game can be seen on MSG and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
Here are some observations from the game...
- Goaltender Akira Schmid took his rookie lap to start warmups, and then made his NHL debut minutes later. The 21-year-old rookie had to wait 9:14 minutes before seeing his first shot and recording his first-career NHL save. It came on a re-direction from the slot by Andres Lee and Schnmid was quick to knock the puck aside.

"It was a great experience," Schmid said. "Nervous at first, but after the first 10 minutes I got into my groove. After the first couple shots I felt better too. There is still some stuff for work on, too. But I have time to work on it."

Overall, save one goal (Greene), Schmid handled himself well between the pipes. He was poised, in position, square and made himself big - using that 6-foot-5 frame. Can't pin this L on him.

"I thought he played well," Ruff said. "He made some good saves and handled the puck well back there. For his first NHL game, it was a good showing."

- The Devils began the game undermanned. They lost captain Nico Hischier and defenseman Ryan Graves to COVID-19 protocol. Neither player was able to suit up for the contest, a tough blow to the team before it even took the ice.

"They're both important players. Every team has had to deal with this. We're going to have to deal with it," Ruff said. "We'll find out where everything is at in the next couple of days. Again, we have to find players within our roster to pick up the slack and help us win hockey games."

- A couple former Devils exacted some revenge on their former squad to break some zeroes on the stat line. Defenseman Andy Green and forward Zach Parise each scored their first goals of the season respectively in the second period, which tied and then gave New York a 3-2 lead. - The Devils took advantage of a flaw in Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin. The Russian tender was setting up on shots coming from his right side. But instead of holding his squared position on shots, he was pushing off further to his right and exposing the left side. Andreas Johnsson had the first crack but was unable to score. However, after both Bratt and Hughes took advantage as their shots both went far side at the overexposed netting.