3 Takeaways: Islanders Fall to Devils 4-1

A different lineup yielded the same result on Tuesday night, as the New York Islanders dropped a preseason contest 4-1 to the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center.
Nikita Soshnikov opened the scoring for the Islanders in the first period, but New Jersey responded with four straight goals from Yegor Sharangovich, Dougie Hamilton, Jack Hughes and Erik Haula. The loss dropped the Islanders to 0-2-0 in the exhibition slate.

"We have some work to do, no question about it," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "We'll learn that having some time off and not have any time of game action is very necessary. We'll continue to build and work and we'll be better."

(DU) FOUR NEW FACES:

There were new faces on Tuesday night, as the Islanders took to the ice for their second preseason game in as many nights.
William Dufour, Nikita Soshnikov, Dennis Cholowski and Hudson Fasching made their Islanders debuts on Tuesday.
Dufour, the Isles' 2020 fifth-round pick, skated on a line with Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin, picking up an assist on Soshnikov's goal. Whether Soshnikov was Dufour's intended target is up for debate, but it was a positive note to start out on for a rookie coming off a dream season in junior and a moment has been dreaming about since 2020.
"It's just nice to play against NHLers," Dufour said. "It's the dream come true and playing against the older guys, it's not just that they're faster, but I mean, they're bigger, they're stronger on their sticks. I think that's what the biggest difference tonight."
Dufour finished the game with 14:31 TOI with 4:15 PP TOI, one assist, one shot, one block, two takeaways and a giveaway. Lambert said he thought the prospect showed well and Dufour said he had some learnings for his own game.
"I think I did pretty well," Dufour said. "[I could improve] just my confidence maybe and put more shots on the net, be more patient with the puck and don't throw the puck away. I think that's the biggest I think I need to improve from this game."
Cholowski played 17:34, largely at even strength alongside Paul LaDue. Fasching played opposite Soshnikov on a line with Kyle MacLean. Fasching spent the past four seasons in the Arizona Coyotes organization, captaining the AHL's Tucson Roadrunners last season.
In addition to icing a relatively inexperienced lineup, Josh Bailey, typically a winger, played as a pivot, centering a line with Anthony Beauvillier and Oliver Wahlstrom. Aatu Raty centered Kyle Palmieri and Kieffer Bellows.
While the Islanders iced a relatively inexperienced blue line behind Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, the Devils brought out some of their big guns, including Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton, as well as offseason signings/acquisitions in Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula and goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who stopped 13-of-14 shots in 40 minutes en route to the win.

SOSHNIKOV SNIPES:

Nikita Soshnikov came back to North America looking for a shot.
He sure made an impression with his first.
Soshnikov opened the scoring on Tuesday night, snapping a wrister top corner clean past Vitek Vanecek at 8:04. It was the type of snipe that turned a few heads in the press box and on the ice.
"Amazing goal," Aatu Raty said. "I guess he's a shooter."
Soshnikov signed a one-year deal to join the Islanders on Sept. 21 as the Russian forward makes a bid to get back to the NHL after spending the past three seasons in the KHL. Soshnikov was more of a grinder in his previous 87 games of NHL experience with Toronto and St. Louis, but tapped into more of a top-six role in Russia.
"Playing in the top six in KHL definitely helped me a little bit with terms of like making plays and skill wise," Soshnikov said. "NHL is a fast game, so I have to still have to be physical and be on the puck playing hard plus keeping my skill and shot speed. That was kind of my focus today."

SOROKIN STARTS:

Ilya Sorokin saw his first action of the preseason, allowing three goals on 12 shots in just over half a game.
Sorokin's first two goals both came via screened shots, with Yegor Sharangovich beating the Isles netminder while cutting through the slot at 15:24. That tied the score 1-1 before Dougie Hamilton's seeing-eye wrister that ultimately found its way short side at 16:42. Jack Hughes scored from in close 52 seconds into the second period.
While all players talk about using the preseason to get back up to speed, that is especially true for goaltenders, who have the hardest time recreating game-like situations over the summer.
"I think everybody needs them," Lambert said of the preseason slate. "There's no question about it. The goalies, the game action is important for them. But everybody needs to get back in action."
Like Semyon Varlamov on Monday, Sorokin left the game at the halfway point on Tuesday. Cory Schneider didn't change the Islanders fortunes. Shortly after Anthony Beauvillier rang a shot off the post, Erik Haula made it 4-1, converting off the rush, going backhand-forehand and beating Schneider high.
Schneider was solid in relief, stopping 13 of 14 shots.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders are back in action on Sunday night when they host the Philadelphia Flyers at UBS Arena.