NEWARK – Rarely can a game be upstaged by what happens beforehand in warmups.
But Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton might have done that on Sunday when he slipped on his old No. 7 jersey, stepped back on the ice at Prudential Center and let fans daydream about what the New Jersey lineup will soon look like.
His cameo turned out to be brief, as the All-Star blueliner didn't suit up for the Devils in a 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders. But for coach Sheldon Keefe, sending him through the usual gameday routine was one way to ease back a core player who's been rehabbing for over a month.
Especially with the Devils not scheduled to practice again in the regular season, what with four games in six nights to close it out.
"Ideally, it would be nice to get him into a [regular season] game," Keefe said. "But we're not going to rush a guy back that could benefit from some extra time and extra practices."
Time is of the essence with only two more games for the Devils before opening up with a Round 1 playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
This was New Jersey’s third straight loss and all three have come against teams eliminated from playoff contention.
Bo Horvat put the Islanders up 1-0 near the end of the second period, snapping a shot to the top-right corner.
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Scored on twice in a loss Friday, the Devils penalty kill caught a break in the first period when the Islanders nearly went up 1-0. A potential goal from Bo Horvat was waived off and confirmed through video review, with the center batting the puck with his glove.
That ruling and two Isles shots off the crossbar helped send the Devils into the first intermission with the game still scoreless.
The Devils found themselves short-handed again early in the second when Paul Cotter took a major and match penalty for an illegal check to the head on Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech. But New Jersey came away unscatched, holding to Islanders to one shot over five minutes when creating one of their own on a Dawson Mercer wrister.
Special teams came up clutch again in the third when the Devils killed off a too-many-men penalty.
Jacob Markstrom bounced back from a shaky outing against Boston, stopping 21 of 22 shots in the Devils net.
"The main thing is you want to feel good about your game," Keefe said before the game. "Most importantly, you want to be healthy coming out this year."
The Devils wrap up the regular-season with a back-to-back, on the road Tuesday in Boston and home Wednesday against Detroit.
"I feel fine with where we're at and how we've managed this," Keefe added before the game. "We've had some really good practices here over the last couple of weeks in utilizing that time. You want to be mentally focused and sharp."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Devils drop third straight game in shutout loss to ...
