That’s right, we’re now five months into the NHL season and this is the first time the New York Islanders face-off against the New Jersey Devils.
Thank the NHL’s scheduling department for a clash between divisional rivals on back-to-back nights, and then another two times between February 21st and April 8th, 2017. That a potential eight-point boon in the standings.
That’s assuming the Isles can sweep the series between the two. The Devils are bad, but not season sweep bad. At least recently.
Going 5-4-1 in their last ten, the Devils are still far from making noise in terms of a playoff position, though back-to-back wins against the Isles would certainly help them in that regard.