Jack Hughes has 2 goals, assist, Devils rally for OT win over Islanders

Dawson Mercer and Noesen scored and Hamilton had three assists for the Devils (10-5-2). Hughes added an assist and Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves.

“Well, I wasn’t too impressed that we were without two players like that,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I didn’t say anything to express that except, ‘Let’s not leave here.’ Really, the players took charge. They stuck with it. That was a big goal for Mercer. That was a great piece of [Paul] Cotter is supposed to drive us there and get the puck in. We haven’t done much of that in the third up to this point. It gave us life and then the 6-on-5 came through.”

Simon Holmstrom had a goal and an assist, and Dennis Cholowski and Brock Nelson scored for the Islanders (6-6-3), who had won two straight. Sorokin made 29 saves.

“I will be very honest. I’m disappointed for our guys tonight,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “The first 40 weren’t our best. We didn’t foresee what we would be capable of. Offensively, we didn’t have any possession of the puck. I mean, they had a lot of good chances. Ilya [Sorokin] He made some great saves for us, but in the third game we played hard and we played well and it’s a shame we missed a goal when we hit our skate and it went in. That’s bad luck. I know it’s a cliché and we repeat it, but it is what it is.”