MATHEW BARZAL

Devils Bring Pace; Islanders Count on Sorokin

New Jersey’s stars test New York’s core of Barzal and Horvat, with the Devils’ crease choice in focus for an early Metropolitan meeting.

The early read: New Jersey Devils are creating the better looks, and the New York Islanders are asking Ilya Sorokin to buy them time. New Jersey’s opener produced chances worth a bit over 4.11 expected goals — expected goals meaning how many an average shooter would be forecast to score from those looks — a sign their attack is already humming. The Islanders, by contrast, came out of their first game with about 2.54 expected goals, pointing to a thinner diet of chances that puts more weight on Sorokin.

Names to watch are Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton for New Jersey, and Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat for New York. If the Islanders can keep it tight early and find a quick strike, that’s their path to flipping the shot quality story.

In net, the Islanders should ride Sorokin, while the Devils choose between David Rittich and Jake Allen. In the table stakes: New Jersey sits fifth in the Metro and the East’s second wild card; New York is eighth in the Metro and seventh in the wild card queue — small margins already matter.