New Jersey Devils vs New York Islanders Predictions Today

New Jersey Devils outlook

New Jersey’s 3-2 overtime victory over Philadelphia on October 1 offered more encouragement than the narrow score suggests. The Devils outshot Philadelphia 44-25 and finished with a 95-41 advantage in total shot attempts. That is substantial pressure from a single game, and it is the clearest current-season reason to expect New Jersey to challenge Sorokin.

The caution is that all that volume still required overtime to produce a win. New Jersey went 0-for-4 on the power play, leaving an obvious area for improvement. Jake Allen stopped 23 of 25 shots, but that performance should not be treated as evidence that he will start this matchup. The October 3 live update had not supplied final lineups.

The injury list includes Connor Brown and Johnathan Kovacevic, both out this weekend. Nick Bjugstad is out until January with a torn left pectoral muscle, while Seamus Casey is out eight to 10 weeks with a knee injury.

New Jersey won both preseason meetings with New York, including a 4-1 victory at UBS Arena. Those results offer a recent counterpoint to its difficult regular-season history against the Islanders, although exhibition success carries less weight in this forecast.

New York Islanders outlook

Sorokin stopped 24 of 26 shots in New York’s 2-1 loss at Toronto on September 30. His opening performance gives the Islanders an encouraging starting point in goal. Paired with his results against New Jersey last season, it makes goaltending the central reason for choosing New York despite its losing opener.

The Islanders swept the 2025-26 season series, outscoring the Devils 17-4 as New Jersey finished 0-3-1. New York also went 7-0-1 across its previous eight meetings with the Devils. Those overlapping records describe a favorable history, but they should not be counted as separate guarantees of another victory. The Islanders’ 22-17-2 home record last season adds context without making this an automatic home pick.

Scoring is the concern. New York managed one goal in Toronto, went 0-for-4 on the power play and won 20 of 50 faceoffs. Mathew Barzal remains unavailable with a knee injury. His absence adds uncertainty to an attack that needs a better result.

Emil Heineman, Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri were the projected top line. That combination is a lineup expectation rather than a confirmed final roster. The forecast asks New York to improve its scoring while Sorokin keeps the margin manageable.

Key matchup factors

The central tension is current pressure against historical resistance. New Jersey’s opener suggests it can generate enough attempts to test New York repeatedly. Sorokin’s matchup record suggests those attempts may not translate easily into goals. With only one regular-season game played by each team, neither signal deserves overwhelming weight.

SportsJaw’s moneyline community leader is New Jersey at 71%, while the separate sportsbook figure is 58% and the blended share is 61%. The qualified-handicapper figure also favors New Jersey at 73%. Those are selection shares, not win probabilities. They reinforce the need for restraint with an Islanders forecast; opposing popular selections alone supplies no reason to bet New York.

New Jersey Devils vs New York Islanders spread prediction

Pass on Devils -1.5 (+190) and Islanders +1.5 (-230). The projected one-goal Islanders victory fits New York’s puck line, but the price demands much more conviction than this matchup warrants. A score forecast is not a reliable measure of how often a team covers.

New Jersey’s opening shot volume gives the Devils a plausible route to a wider win, while Sorokin’s history makes that outcome difficult to back at -1.5. The blended spread consensus favors Islanders +1.5 at 86%; that popularity does not improve the -230 return.

New Jersey Devils vs New York Islanders total prediction

Pass on Over 6 (-108) and Under 6 (-112). The five-goal projection points toward Under, supported by Sorokin’s matchup results and both teams’ scoreless opening power plays. Those power-play samples are only four opportunities apiece, however, so they deserve limited predictive weight.

New Jersey’s 44-shot opener is the strongest scoring counterargument, and its unconfirmed starting goaltender adds uncertainty. The blended total share favors Over at 60%, while the SportsJaw community favors Under. That disagreement leaves the scoring question open. Neither price earns an actionable recommendation.

New Jersey Devils vs New York Islanders projected score

Projected score: Islanders 3, Devils 2. Sorokin’s confirmed start and excellent previous-season results against New Jersey tip the forecast toward the home team. New York still needs a better offensive showing than it delivered in Toronto, particularly with Barzal unavailable.

The Devils’ dominant shot and attempt totals against Philadelphia remain the strongest reason this prediction could miss. A repeat of that pressure would put considerable strain on the Islanders, regardless of the series history. Confidence is low because the favorable New York evidence is heavily historical and the current samples are small. Both puck lines and both total options are passes. The single official SportsJaw betting recommendation is Pass.