Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The best-laid plans often go awry.
The Islanders were primed to kick off their 50th anniversary on a high note. Inside UBS Arena, the pre-game was full of pomp and circumstance. Ralph Macchio gave a speech, Eddie Westfall dropped a puck, and John Tonelli sounded a siren (more on that later).
But there was also a marriage proposal gone wrong (maybe staged, but entertaining). Like this gentleman, the Isles were expecting a different result.
They came out fast, outshooting the Florida Panthers 16-10 in the first period, and had the better chances against the defending President’s Trophy winners. But the common trend of not being able to convert kept the game scoreless.
It stayed that way long enough for Florida to score on a deflection in the second and capitalize on a turnover in the third, just 30 seconds after Noah Dobson (who else?) finally broke through. With the game still within reach, an empty-netter left the Isles and their fans with a familiar empty feeling to start the season.
Coming up, the Islanders introduce a new tradition with an old sound and hit the jackpot with their helmet ad partner. Plus, the Islanders are really bad in season openers, and we look back at Mike Bossy’s first NHL goal.
But first, let’s recap the Isles’ season-opening loss.
Let’s dive in.
🏒 IN SHORT: Patric Hornqvist scored a wraparound goal 30 seconds after the Islanders tied the game in the third period to break a 1-1 tie and lifted the Florida Panthers to a 3-1 win over the New York Islanders in the season opener at UBS Arena. Defenseman Noah Dobson tied the game on the power play at 3:13 of the third period for the lone Isles goal. Eetu Luostarinen opened the scoring and gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 12:45 of the second period. In his Panthers debut, Matthew Tkachuk scored an empty net goal with 1:15 remaining, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 31 saves in the win. Ilya Sorokin made 26 saves for New York in Lane Lambert’s head coaching debut.
KEY MOMENT(s):
🔹 Trailing 1-0, the Islanders converted on their second power-play of the game at 3:13 of the third period. Dobson picked up where he left off last season, shooting a wrist shot from the high slot that beat Bobrovsky to tie the game 1-1.
🔻 The momentum was short-lived, very short-lived. A turnover by the Islanders’ fourth line led to a shot that Sorokin couldn’t squeeze with his glove. Hornqvist swooped up the rebound and scored on a wraparound just 30 seconds later.
3 REACTIONS
❶ POCKETS OF GOOD: “I thought we had pockets where we were good. I thought we came out pretty strong in the first for the most part, said Lambert. Thought the second period was not our best period. They obviously put us on our heels a little bit.”
❷ TRY TO GET ONE ON NET: “It was good to get a power play after they had a bunch,” Dobson said. “(Nelson) gave it back to me. (Anders Lee) doesn't get credit for any points on the goal, but he does a heck of a job with the screen, I think that's his specialty. He does a great job coming across and taking the eyes, and I just try to get one on net.”
❸ WEREN’T DEFLATED: “It was a kick in the stomach,” Lane Lambert said about the game-winning goal 30 seconds after tying the game. “But we certainly weren’t deflated. We continued to battle, and I thought we had a couple good opportunities to tie the game.”
⏭ NEXT UP: The Islanders are off today but back on the ice this weekend, hosting the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at UBS Arena.
The face-off is set for 7:30 PM.
📊 STANDINGS:
📰 NEWS: Nikita Soshnikov made his Islanders debut playing on the fourth line alongside Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin. Oliver Wahlstrom, Ross Johnston, and Sebastian Aho were the healthy scratches.
◾️ After the game, Lane Lambert said the issue that kept Wahlstrom out toward the end of camp is still lingering. His status for Saturday is TBD.
◾️ In the New York Post, Ethan Sears offers his guess as to what happens when Clutterbuck is taken off of IR. “If Johnston, who carries a $1.1 million cap hit, isn’t the first call to fill in on the fourth line, then it’s tough to see why he should stay on the roster over Wahlstrom, Soshnikov or Bellows, all of whom can play a top-nine role if called on.”
◾️ Of the three, only Wahlstrom is waivers exempt, and an argument could be made that he could benefit from playing big minutes in Bridgeport. With Clutterbuck close, we’ll soon find out in which direction Lou Lamoriello goes.
🚨 SOUNDING OFF: The Islanders introduced what they plan to be a new tradition at UBS Arena as John Tonelli sounded off the NEW Isles goal siren, which is supposed to sound like the old one that played at the Coliseum from the 70s and into the ’90s. You can listen and watch for yourself. Either the siren or the technique needs to be revisited if this is going to be a thing before face-off.
💰 MAD MEN: Excited about the season? Yes. Excited about helmet ads? Jon Ledecky says Yes! Yes! Yes! The Islanders co-owner explained in an exclusive in AMNY how Jackpocket, a third-party lottery app, became the team’s helmet sponsor for home games and why advertisements are a positive for the NHL.
📈 SELL THE ASSETS: “Fans should be excited about the logos on helmets and the patch on the shoulder because the way the National Hockey League works if all 32 teams are successful in selling these assets then the salary cap goes up,” Ledecky said. “And we are unabashedly a cap max team. We’ve given our hockey operations folks that 100 percent ‘go do what you need to do.’
📚 SOUND SMART: Per Eric Hornick in The Skinny, the Isles are 2-5-0 on Opening Night over the last seven years, and they are only 5-12-3 in their last 20 Openers. Overall, the Isles are 13-26-11 on Opening Night (11-20-8 on the road and 2-6-3 at home). The Isles are now 29-15-6 in their first home game of the season. The Isles 13-26-11 (.370) Opening Night record is third worst among current teams who have played more than two openers.
🗓 THIS DATE IN ISLANDERS HISTORY: On October 13, 1977, Isles legend Mike Bossy made his NHL debut and scored his first goal in a 3-2 loss at the Buffalo Sabres. The goal was his first of 53 goals during the 1977-78 season, which ended with Bossy winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
🔗 Lane Lambert plays it cool ahead of first game as Islanders head coach by Andrew Gross, Newsday “New Islanders coach Lane Lambert is consistently low key with his off-ice public comments, staying on an even keel devoid of much emotion. That, of course, meshes perfectly with president and general manager Lou Lamoriello’s insistence on divulging as little information as possible.”
🔗 Barzal’s big contract brings big expectations, by James Nichols, The Fourth Period: “We expect a lot out of him. He expects a lot out of himself,” Lamoriello said just before he and Barzal agreed to an extension. “And he’s worked very hard during the summer for that. You know, he’s without question one of our leaders, you know, without question, probably our most talented player, and he’s committed without question.”
And we leave you with this ….Jon Ledecky, Co-Owner, and Sean Siuda, CFO of Jackpocket, rang The Opening Bell® at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday
They then handed out Islanders sweaters to the CNBC crew.
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.....my immediate observations: some VERY encouraging signs but, STILL plagued by two HUGE problems - protecting behind the net (although Ilya has GOT to become more savvy about his RIGHT side; definitely demonstrated where he's MOST vulnerable) and LATE-game opposing blueline stands (Noah stood IN for PULIE last night concerning THAT) - overall however, a MUCH better showing than almost any 2021-2022 display, with a higher count of DANGEROUS offensive-zone forays; Bob was well, just CLASSIC Bob - and Florida got away with a LOT of missed calls, particularly relating to obstruction (Tkachuky by HIMSELF, risked at LEAST three unsportsmanlike infractions - WORSE creep than LBoH.....)