Mission One: qualify for the playoffs. Status: Complete. Mission Two: Be appropriately prepared for the grueling nature of The NHL postseason. Status: In Progress.

Sunday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils, newly minted postseason participants, hosted the eliminated New York Islanders for a matinee at Prudential Center that served as a tune-up of sorts for the home team and a matter of pride for the visitors. The resulting 1-0 loss for the Devils further emphasized the nature of the contest. Bo Horvat scored the only goal of the game at 19:03 of the second period after Timo Meier turned the puck over in his own zone. Horvat sniped the puck past Jacob Markstrom and that was all she wrote. 

For the visiting Islanders, skating out of Newark with a win is simply a matter of not rolling over. They’re playing out the string and treating each game with the proper respect and pride. For the hosting Devils, their penalty-kill was exceptional, going three-for-three. Meanwhile, their offense and power-play still need work. Just in case you need further evidence of their offensive struggles, this was the ninth time this season that the Devils were shut out. (They’ve also shut out their opponents nine times, so that kind of evens the ledger a bit). 

“I think the Islanders did a great job of playing us tight and keeping us away from the inside,” Erik Haula explained after the game. “Looking forward to next week, that’s kind of what Carolina’s forte is. They’re tight. They try to keep it outside, take time and space away. So it was a good practice rep in that.”

Prior to the game, Devils’ Head Coach Sheldon Keefe was asked about the lessons he learned while coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs, and routinely qualifying for the playoffs, that he is using with New Jersey. 

“You recognize how difficult it is, how challenging it is, how little space there is to operate,” Keefe explained. “Also, just how difficult it is mentally and physically. So you’re managing that and making sure you’ve got a good combination here of rest and your team being fresh. But also (being) prepared to be able to play at the level that’s required in terms of the energy that you need, the emotion and the intensity that’s involved. So, all those kind of things are what we’re talking about these days.”

Part of managing that combination of rest and being fresh manifested itself on Sunday as Stefan Noesen received the day off. In his place, the Devils inserted Justin Dowling into the lineup. This was only the third game all year that Noesen has missed. Normally, players like to keep themselves in a rhythm to stay sharp, but at the end of a long season, with the playoffs on the horizon, nobody’s complaining about getting one day off. 

With Noesen resting, Cody Glass saw some early power-play time when the Devils went to the man-advantage 3:57 into the game as Casey Cizikas was called for hooking Devils’ Captain Nico Hischier. 

Six minutes after the Cizikas penalty, Nathan Bastian boarded the longtime Islander and was sent to the box. But just like the Devils, the Isles did not score on the power-play. 

The second period was a different story. 

Paul Cotter caught Adam Pelech up high going through the neutral zone six minutes into the middle period. Cotter was assessed a match penalty (ejected from the game) for contact to Pelech’s head. The Isles’ defenseman was bleeding profusely and needed to be checked out by a Trainer. While skating off the ice, Pelech slammed his helmet down and screamed at Cotter. Daniel Sprong served the five-minute major in the box for the Devils. 

New Jersey killed off the full five-minute penalty in exceptional fashion, allowing the Islanders to only get set up in their zone once and that didn’t occur until there was just 1:47 left in the man-advantage. New York was credited with just a single shot on goal during their five-minute advantage. 

Toward the end of the period, with just 55.3 seconds left in the middle period, a careless giveaway by Timo Meier in New Jersey’s zone allowed Bo Horvat to seize the puck and rip it past Jacob Markstrom to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. 

Neither team mustered much in the third period. However, the Devils did improve their penalty-kill to a perfect three-for-three when they rebuffed the Islanders on a too many men on the ice penalty one minute into the final period. 

The Garden Staters made a late push near the end of the game, but ultimately fell short, thus securing a losing record at home this season. Not counting their game in Prague, the Devils are now 18-21 in Newark this season (the 21 losses are the combined tally of regulation, overtime and shootout defeats). This is the first time in New Jersey’s history that they’ve qualified for the playoffs with a losing record at home. 

“I really liked our start,” Keefe explained. “And I liked our finish. Probably the 30 minutes in between there, like the last 10 minutes of the first, pretty much the whole second period. I’d say probably 40 of the 60, I’d say we just weren’t good enough for me, just in terms of offense. Defensively, we’re good. Didn’t give up much. Marky (Jacob Markstrom) was really good. So those are positives. 

“We made one pretty big mistake. That’s the difference in the game, ultimately. I just didn’t think we had enough offensively, aside from our surge at the start of the game, which you love to see. You want to get off to a good start. It’s two games in a row now, I really liked how we’ve come out and started the game. And then, I liked the surge at the end.”

Now it’s on to Boston for a game Tuesday night before they return home Wednesday for the regular season finale against Detroit. Perhaps those two games will teach the Devils a few things that will help them next weekend when the postseason begins in Carolina.