Luke Evangelista scored two goals to help the New Jersey Devils earn a 4-1 preseason victory over the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday. Evangelista opened the scoring early, and New Jersey built a four-goal cushion before the Islanders managed to get on the board late in the third period.
Evangelista opened the scoring at 6:13 of the first period, converting a wrist shot on the power play after passes from Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes. The Devils added two quick goals early in the second period to take control. Arseny Gritsyuk scored on a wrist shot 42 seconds into the frame with an assist from Evan Rodrigues. Only 19 seconds later, Evangelista collected his second goal of the night on another wrist shot, set up by Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler. Dougie Hamilton made it 4-0 at 14:48 of the second period with a snap shot assisted by Siegenthaler and Rodrigues. Simon Holmstrom ended the shutout bid at 15:21 of the third period for the Islanders, assisted by Kyle Palmieri and Bo Horvat.
Jake Allen stopped 14 of 15 shots to earn the victory for New Jersey, while Ilya Sorokin made 22 saves on 26 shots in the loss for New York. The Devils capitalized on one of their two power-play opportunities and killed off all four penalties they took during the game. New Jersey finished the night with a 26-15 advantage in shots on goal.
Both teams will play their next game on Tuesday, October 20. The Devils will host the Colorado Avalanche, and the Islanders will host the Anaheim Ducks.
