Make It Make Sense

Isles tie franchise mark for largest shutout win; demolish Devils 9-0

Good Morning, Islanders Country.

Sports have a wonderful way of making liars out of logic. You think you’ve got the pattern figured out, the trend mapped, the outcome prewritten — and then Tuesday night happens.

Nothing about the Islanders’ scoring NINE goals (all even strength) and shutting out the NJ Devils made any sense. Not so soon after a stretch of nine straight games without scoring more than two! Not without Bo Horvat. Not blanking a rival with offensive star power. Not with Ilya Sorokin returning from injury and getting peppered with 44 shots like a welcome-back gift nobody asked for.

And definitely not with Anthony Duclair at the center of it all.

Duclair had been a healthy scratch. A footnote. A question mark. And then — somehow — he was a hat trick. His first since 2019. Read that again. A player trying to reestablish himself explodes for three goals against the Devils, was a +6 for the second time in his career, and suddenly, UBS Arena, celebrating its seventh consecutive sell-out, is buzzing like it’s spring instead of winter.

What?

The Devils dictated large chunks of play. They fired. They pressed. They even looked like the sharper team at times by the eye test. Sorokin had to be good early — very good — and he was. But when the puck went the other way, it kept ending up in the net behind them. Barzal. Duclair. Then Duclair again. And again.

Scoreboard hockey is funny that way. It doesn’t care about logic. It doesn’t care about trends. It only cares about red lights and sirens sounding.

The Islanders rode the adrenaline from their riveting win over Toronto straight into the largest margin of victory in franchise history. After 60 minutes on Long Island there now feels that there is confidence where there had been tension and answers where there had only been questions.

Will it last? Will it carry over? Who knows.

That’s the beauty and the frustration with this team right now. They can look stuck one night and unstoppable the next. It won’t make sense tomorrow, and it probably won’t make sense on the plane to Nashville, where a tricky seven-game road trip begins Thursday.

9-0. Insane. Incredible, but it all counts the same. Two more points.

Game Recap

Anthony Duclair delivered a night Islanders fans won’t soon forget, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists as the New York Islanders demolished the New Jersey Devils 9-0 on Tuesday night. It was Duclair’s first hat trick in more than six years and a five-point eruption that set the tone early and never let up.

Just as impressive was the return of Ilya Sorokin, who stopped all 45 shots he faced in his first game since Dec. 19. Sorokin showed no rust while recording his 26th career shutout, breaking the franchise record after missing time with a nagging lower-body injury.

New Jersey never recovered after surrendering goals on the first two shots of the game, and Islanders captain Mathew Barzal helped ignite the rout by opening the scoring 62 seconds in. Rookie standout Matthew Schaefer picked up an assist on that goal, extending his point streak to four games despite still battling illness.

Simon Holmstrom, Casey Cizikas, Tony DeAngelo and Cal Ritchie also scored as the Islanders won their second straight game and fifth in seven, keeping pressure on the Metropolitan Division leaders. For a team searching for offensive consistency, Tuesday night felt like a long-awaited release.

GameScore Impact Card

⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders start their road trip on Thursday night in Nashville. Face-off against Steven Stamkos and the Predators is set for 8:00 PM EST.

📊 STANDINGS

DUUUUUUUKKKEEE

Anthony Duclair turned a healthy scratch into one of the most remarkable nights in modern Islanders history. In the Isles’ 9-0 rout of New Jersey, Duclair recorded a hat trick, two assists, and finished plus-six, a feat no Islanders player had accomplished in the post-Cup era (1984–2025).

Duclair is also the only active NHL player with two career +6 games, having previously done it with Florida in 2022. “It was huge any time you get on the score sheet to help the boys,” Duclair said. “It’s been a while since I’ve scored a hat trick, so I’m very happy about that for sure.”

The night carried even more historical weight as Duclair joined Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier as the only Islanders to record a hat trick after missing the previous game. Scratched against Toronto, Duclair responded with a performance that will live in Islanders lore. Duclair is the second Islander this season to record a natural hat trick (Bo Horvat), making it the first time that the franchise has had two different players record natural hat tricks in the same season since Pierre Turgeon and Derek King in 1993-94.

Sign, Sealed and Delivered

Matthew Schaefer confirmed two things after Tuesday’s morning skate: he will be in the lineup against the New Jersey Devils, and his rising profile has officially gone beyond the rink. The Islanders’ 18-year-old phenom has signed on with NOBULL, the apparel company co-owned by Tom Brady.

For Schaefer, it’s the latest milestone in a season that has already placed him squarely in the national spotlight. Praise has poured in from across the hockey world — from stars and executives alike — but Brady’s endorsement marked a different kind of validation. In a video posted to NOBULL’s Instagram, Brady singled out Schaefer as the NHL player he would most want representing the brand. “One player right now?” Brady said. “I talked to this kid, Matthew. This young guy. He kind of has that eye of the tiger.”

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Making The Trip

Bo Horvat (lower body) didn’t play against the Devils on Tuesday night, but the team did deliver some good news earlier in the day when they announced that the center, who leads the Isles in scoring will travel when the club begins its seven-game road trip, which opens against the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Throw Away

During the second period, a red object came hurling onto the ice. It turned out to be a Devils jersey, and not just any, one with No. 76 stitched on it, meaning it was a PK Subban jersey. The retired D-MAN served as an ESPN analyst in the TV booth. Subban joked that it looked like his jersey as it happened, only for that to be confirmed when the broadcast returned from a commercial break.

📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, Ilya Sorokin recorded his 26th career shutout, breaking the club record he shared with Chico Resch. Resch had held at least a share of the club record since February 25, 1975 (50 years, 315 days ago). Sorokin recorded his fifth career shutout with at least 40 saves; all other goalies in club history have combined for eight shutouts with at least 40 saves. Sorokin is the first goalie in NHL history to record seven career shutouts while facing 40 or more shots; he is now 5-0-2 in those games. The Isles scored a total of 11 goals in the other six games.

🎥 ISLES REWIND: On Jan. 7, 2020, Anders Lee scored with 51 seconds left in overtime as the Islanders defeated the New Jersey Devils 4-3 at Prudential Center. Casey Cizikas, Jordan Eberle, and Tom Kuhnhackl also scored for the Islanders, and Thomas Greiss made 32 saves for the Islanders, including one on defenseman Sami Vatanen on a 3-on-1 break in overtime.

📺 Isles House Episode #46 | Better Schaef Than Sorry

🔗 Matthew Schaefer has been a penalty drawing machine for the NY Islanders by Eyes on Isles “According to statistician Eric Hornick, at just 18 years old, the Islanders’ rookie defenseman has already drawn 24 penalties this season — more than any defenseman in the league and second overall behind only Connor McDavid (25). Just as impressive is the other side of the ledger: Schaefer has taken only 10 penalties, giving him a +14 net differential, again second only to McDavid’s +17.”

🔗 Sorokin sets Islanders’ shutout record, Duclair records hat trick in 9-0 win over Devils by Joe Pantorno, AMNY “Ilya Sorokin posted his 26th career shutout, passing Chico Resch for the most in franchise history, by stopping all of the New Jersey Devils’ 44 shots in a 9-0 victory on Tuesday night at UBS Arena. “It’s a good memory to have,” Sorokin said. “But first of all, it’s teamwork. Without my team, I have nothing. So thanks to the guys for their help. They’re a big part of this record.”

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And we leave you with this…Isles road into UBS wearing their First Responder jerseys

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