Credit: Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers
Late Goal Gives Devils 2-1 Preseason Win Over Islanders
Published: Sunday, September 20, 2026
by Matthew Merlino
NEWARK, N.J. - Right Wing Connor Brown scored the deciding goal of Sunday’s 2-1 preseason New Jersey Devils win over the New York Islanders.
The first period was punctuated by penalties. New Jersey had to kill four power plays
in the opening period alone and took six penalties total. Late in the period, Islanders
forward Gleb Veremyev tried to stab the puck past Devils goaltender David Rittich.
While the puck found the back of the net, the officials found that Rittich had been
interfered with, and the goal was disallowed. Rittich said that Veremyev “twisted
my back and hit my ribs” while going for goal.
After the quiet first period, Cole Eiserman scored for the Islanders just 55 seconds
into the second period. Eiserman is in his second year with the Islanders organization
after he was the 20th overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft.
New Jersey would get on the board a few minutes later when Ryan Schmelzer, captain
of the Devils AHL affiliate in Utica, buried one in the back of the net. Schmelzer
has been with the Comets since 2018 after playing for four years at Canisius College
and one with the ECHL’s Adirondack Thunder. That would tie the game at one goal apiece
for the remainder of the second period.
Just before the halfway point of the third period, Brown found himself in a one-on-one
with Islanders goalie Vitek Vanecek and was able to slip what would end up being the
winning goal past the veteran Islanders goaltender.
Brown is now in his twelfth season in the NHL and his second as a Devil. Last year
he put up 18 goals and 25 assists in 75 games. He played all 82 games in the 2024-25
campaign as an Edmonton Oiler.
Brown would earn the first star of the game for his winning goal. The second star
went to Rittich for a 23 save performance in net, and the third star was given to
Schmelzer. In addition to his goal, Schmelzer also won six of the eight faceoffs he
participated in.
Even though the Devils came out on top, the stat sheet showed New York outshot and
outhit New Jersey. The Devils also had 12 penalty minutes to ten for the Islanders.
Despite this adversity, New Jersey’s penalty kill shined under pressure in their preseason
opener.
The Devils return to Prudential Center tomorrow night at 7 p.m. for a preseason game
with the Rangers. They open the regular season on Oct. 1, against the Philadelphia
Flyers at the Prudential Center.
Matthew Merlino can be reached at matthew.merlino@student.shu.edu
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