The brand new and more aggressive Islanders still have some work to do.
In his first game as an NHL head coach, Lane Lambert’s style was on display Thursday within the regular-season opener against the Panthers, and at times it looked to have the Islanders buzzing. But there have been too many lapses and too few times when every little thing clicked in a 3-1 loss to the Panthers.
“Aggressive” was the buzzword during training camp, and that was on display from puck drop at UBS Arena. The Islanders clogged the blue line when the Panthers tried to interrupt out of their zone. Their defensemen got up on the play. The target didn’t appear to be to win 2-1, but to generate possibilities, rating and force the opposition to chase the sport — a position by which the Islanders found themselves all too often last season.
However the adjustment to that mindset still looked like a piece in progress, and the Islanders still finished the night with only one goal, which got here on the ability play. The Islanders gave up more rushes within the incorrect direction than they’ve up to now, and too often the Panthers found an open man in a dangerous position with a shooting lane within the offensive zone. Because the early a part of the season unfolds, that will probably be the trade-off with which Lambert contends.
On Thursday, he lost that.
There was a moment of hope early within the third period, when Noah Dobson, on the ability play, ripped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the rating 1-1 at 3:13. However the momentum inside UBS Arena lasted all of 30 seconds, before Patric Hornqvist put the Panthers back up 2-1 on a wraparound attempt that Ilya Sorokin couldn’t get to in time.
After a push from the Islanders on the tail end of the sport, it turned out that lapse in concentration to let Hornqvist get to the online was the decisive moment.
The Panthers struck first at 12:45 of the second period, when Eetu Luostarinen deflected Radko Gudas’ shot past Sorokin, who was late to react. What had been a fair game in the primary period was already beginning to tilt in Florida’s direction before that goal — the Islanders required Jean-Gabriel Pageau to clear a puck off the road during a penalty kill earlier within the period — but things got more lopsided from there.
The Islanders displayed sloppiness at times, taking six penalties. Though they excelled on special teams, it was not ideal to spend 10 minutes of the sport at five-on-four.
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida’s prize acquisition over the summer, didn’t make it onto the scoresheet until his empty-net goal made it 3-1 with barely a minute to play, but he consistently created issues for whatever defensive pair the Islanders threw at him — often Alexander Romanov and Dobson. The Islanders lacked an identical punch from any of their very own forwards.
It’s removed from the top of the world to lose on opening night, particularly against an opponent that has Stanley Cup aspirations, because the Panthers do. However the Islanders, whose next three opponents missed the playoffs last season, will probably be under pressure quickly. Nobody expects every little thing to be perfect immediately, and the promising moments Thursday were apparent.
At the top of the night, nevertheless, dropping points at home early within the season will find yourself biting the Islanders if it takes an excessive amount of time for the problems to sort themselves out.
The brand new and more aggressive Islanders still have some work to do.
In his first game as an NHL head coach, Lane Lambert’s style was on display Thursday within the regular-season opener against the Panthers, and at times it looked to have the Islanders buzzing. But there have been too many lapses and too few times when every little thing clicked in a 3-1 loss to the Panthers.
“Aggressive” was the buzzword during training camp, and that was on display from puck drop at UBS Arena. The Islanders clogged the blue line when the Panthers tried to interrupt out of their zone. Their defensemen got up on the play. The target didn’t appear to be to win 2-1, but to generate possibilities, rating and force the opposition to chase the sport — a position by which the Islanders found themselves all too often last season.
However the adjustment to that mindset still looked like a piece in progress, and the Islanders still finished the night with only one goal, which got here on the ability play. The Islanders gave up more rushes within the incorrect direction than they’ve up to now, and too often the Panthers found an open man in a dangerous position with a shooting lane within the offensive zone. Because the early a part of the season unfolds, that will probably be the trade-off with which Lambert contends.
On Thursday, he lost that.
There was a moment of hope early within the third period, when Noah Dobson, on the ability play, ripped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the rating 1-1 at 3:13. However the momentum inside UBS Arena lasted all of 30 seconds, before Patric Hornqvist put the Panthers back up 2-1 on a wraparound attempt that Ilya Sorokin couldn’t get to in time.
After a push from the Islanders on the tail end of the sport, it turned out that lapse in concentration to let Hornqvist get to the online was the decisive moment.
The Panthers struck first at 12:45 of the second period, when Eetu Luostarinen deflected Radko Gudas’ shot past Sorokin, who was late to react. What had been a fair game in the primary period was already beginning to tilt in Florida’s direction before that goal — the Islanders required Jean-Gabriel Pageau to clear a puck off the road during a penalty kill earlier within the period — but things got more lopsided from there.
The Islanders displayed sloppiness at times, taking six penalties. Though they excelled on special teams, it was not ideal to spend 10 minutes of the sport at five-on-four.
Matthew Tkachuk, Florida’s prize acquisition over the summer, didn’t make it onto the scoresheet until his empty-net goal made it 3-1 with barely a minute to play, but he consistently created issues for whatever defensive pair the Islanders threw at him — often Alexander Romanov and Dobson. The Islanders lacked an identical punch from any of their very own forwards.
It’s removed from the top of the world to lose on opening night, particularly against an opponent that has Stanley Cup aspirations, because the Panthers do. However the Islanders, whose next three opponents missed the playoffs last season, will probably be under pressure quickly. Nobody expects every little thing to be perfect immediately, and the promising moments Thursday were apparent.
At the top of the night, nevertheless, dropping points at home early within the season will find yourself biting the Islanders if it takes an excessive amount of time for the problems to sort themselves out.
