Devils drop loss to Islanders in overtime

Photo Credit; Getty Images 

The New Jersey Devils might look better in Red and Green, but their play in those jerseys continued for the worse as the Devils allowed the New York Islanders to tie the game with under six minutes to play and then Anders Lee beat Mackenzie Blackwood in overtime to give the Islanders a 4-3 win at the Rock.

Devils goals to Kyle Palmieri (16 power play), Nico Hischier (10) and P.K. Subban (5) with Mackenzie Blackwood finishing with 37 saves in the defeat.
The Devils will visit their rivals in New York on Thursday and then travel to Washington, where the world's worst hockey announcing pair awaits me.

Hell Raisers

1)  The best part of this game was the terrific goal by Nico Hischier, who cut across ice, stopped, restarted and spun before flipping the puck backward over Islanders goalie Thomas Griess for the goal.
Hischier is starting to mature into a more creative offensive player and I'm willing to wager that he'll eventually be a 30-35 goal scorer.

2)  If there were any questions about the toughness of Mackenzie Blackwood, Blackwood answered them late in the second period.
An Islander slap shot slammed against the mask of Blackwood and dropped him to the surface and an obviously buzzed Blackwood barely survived the period.
Blackwood lost a few teeth from the shot, which had to hurt like hell but finished the game.

3) I still cannot get over a missed chance in overtime when the Devils flew into the Islander zone with a three on one against Thomas Greiss with Sami Vatanen controlling the puck and two Devils cutting to the net.
Vatanen didn't give up the puck, which might have won the game, and eventually ran out of space as he was forced to settle for trying to slide the puck by Griess at the corner.
I'm just not sure why Vatanen didn't make the pass!!!

4) The action didn't end there as the Islanders turned up ice for a chance to break out with numbers against Mackenzie Blackwood, but their shot goes high and wide.
The Devils try to turn the tide with a line change, but the Islanders catch the Devils napping and Anders Lee is alone as part of a 3 on 2.
Lee snaps a wrister off that beats Blackwood to end the game.
I know I write this all the time, but I LOVE the 3 on 3 overtime!
The action cannot be beaten and if the league would just move the 3 on 3 to ten minutes, the shootout would rarely come into play.

5) P.K. Subban has been somewhat of a disappointment thus far for the Devils but on the offensive end, Subban could be turning a corner.
For the second time in three games, Subban ripped a one-timer into the net from outside the circle, this one from a pass from Miles Wood.
This season may be a lost one for the Devils, it doesn't have to be for P.K. Subban.

6) When you watch hockey games that are fun to see, they aren't always well-played- this was one of those nights.
The game had its share of less than smooth play, but only one penalty was called by the referees and it wound up leading to a goal as Kyle Palmieri took a Nico Hischier pass to the net on a third-period power play.

7) In these types of fun, but not completely flawless contests, some of the reasons that the game is enjoyable is because the referees let the players play.
In all sports, the officials can either let the players play and allow them to decide the game or call it tight and apply the rules firmly.
Players can handle it either way, but be consistent so they have an idea of how the game is going called.
When the officials are consistent, the players can take care of things themselves.