Devils Undefeated in Preseason, Shutout Islanders 3-0 | GAME STORY

ELMONT, NY - The New York Islanders may have dressed their full NHL roster, but it didn't seem to be much of a problem for Akira Schmid and the Devils roster in front of him.

The Devils had few NHL regulars in their lineup and were still able to frustrate the Islanders. Schmid had an outstanding night, facing over 30 shots, and looked like nothing was going to phase him, completely dialed in on his performance.

The 23-year-old goaltender put together a shutout performance, the Devils beating the Islanders 3-0, finishing off an undefeated preseason for New Jersey.

"You can't complain about that," Dawson Mercer said, "Every day when you're coming to the rink and you're playing a game and you win its a great feeling. I think we did a real great job of it in the preseason, using it to our advantage, the last one, I'm just really happy to be part of this group right now."

Two of the three opening Devils goals came off defensemen's sticks. The first was Kevin Bahl, who shot home the puck past Sorokin from the left circle, followed by a brilliant shorthanded shift by Simon Nemec.

Nemec intercepted a desperate clearing attempt by Cal Clutterbuck and proceeded to fend Oliver Wahlstrom using his smooth skating to get to the inside of the ice and found Sorokin's five-hole for the 3-0 lead.

"I saw the chance," Nemec said, post-game. "I just went and scored a goal."

Max Willman, who has been at training camp on a Tryout, opened the scoring for New Jersey.

Schmid stopped all 30 shots the Islanders could muster against him, including six on the Islanders' power play and another with the Islanders shorthanded. 

"It's not an easy game to play for all of us," Schmid said after the game, "but it just shows how deep our lineup is, from NHL to AHL that the next guy that comes in, it's still the same."

Here are some observations from the game:

• There was really no comparing the two lineups on both sides of the ice. The Islanders iced their full NHL lineup tonight, while the Devils gave the majority of the NHL regulars the night off from a trip to the Island.

• Akira Schmid got the work done between the pipes, outdueling Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin. Schmid was dialed in from the get-go. In the first period, he stoned Bo Horvat on an Islanders 2-on-1 rush opportunity and let up few, if any, significant rebounds. Along with his many saves and the big one on Horvat, he also stonewalled Casey Cizikas in the third period on a clean break. 

The moment so frustrating to Cizikas, and likely his teammates, that he went to his bench angrily slamming the door shut. But the performance Schmid was having in net would frustrate any opponent, to be fair. 

• Curtis Lazar is officially the Devils' preseason Iron Man! Although there were seven preseason games, Lazar's six preseason games mean he's played in every possible game given the split squad to open the preseason. Can't be in two places at once, but if he could, he may have been called upon!

• Without Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Ondrej Palat playing tonight, jersey letters needed to be handed out for the game. Tonight it was Brendan Smith, Dawson Mercer and Michael McLeod who each wore an A.

• The Devils had just four shots in the second period... and yet, two of them got by Sorokin. 

• New Jersey ran the board in the preseason with a 7-0-0 record. Since 2005, only four teams have gone undefeated in preseason play: San Jose ('05), Ottawa ('07), Calgary ('10) and Colorado ('16)

• The Devils ploughed their way through the preseason scoring 30 goals while only conceding 13. Twice they scored six goals on their opponent (vs PHI, Sept. 25, vs. NYI, Oct. 2). 

• The NHL is becoming a league of the goalie tandem and New Jersey's two goaltenders and with the way the preseason ended for both Schmid and Vitek Vanecek, the Devils are starting the season out on solid footing. 

• The preseason closes with Jesper Bratt as the Devils leading scorer with nine points (5g, 4a), followed by Jack Hughes' eight (3g, 5a). The team also had 25 players throughout camp who registered at least a point in the preseason.