The New York Islanders dropped their first road game of the season last night, falling 3-0 to the Dallas Stars.
The Islanders’ lineup saw no changes from Thursday’s season opener, with Semyon Varlamov back in net as well.
New York gave up an early power play only four minutes into the first period, but managed their first successful penalty kill of the season, without allowing any high-danger opportunities. The Islanders then had a really good chance to take a lead when Mathew Barzal fed a backdoor pass over to Anthony Duclair, but he put a puck off the post. It proved costly, as less than a minute later, Tyler Seguin took a pass in the slot to beat Varlamov, giving Dallas the early lead.
The Islanders did end up going on to have a strong first period from there, outshooting Dallas 10-3 after the goal was scored. All of Maxim Tsyplakov, Brock Nelson and Kyle MacLean had some pretty strong chances, but couldn’t beat Jake Oettinger.
The Stars did come alive early in the second period though, with great opportunities for all of Matt Duchene, Logan Stankoven, and Mason Marchment, but a series of saves from Varlamov kept the Islanders within one. New York did have a power play opportunity shortly after to try to build some momentum, but couldn’t get a ton going.
Then near the midway mark of the frame, Maxim Tsyplakov ended up bobbling the puck and turning it over right in front of New York’s net, and Jamie Benn capitalized to beat Varlamov, extending the lead.
The Stars ended up with another power play late in the second period, and while they couldn’t capitalize, they retained the 2-0 lead through 40 minutes. It was a frame where New York really let their foot off the gas with less chances being generated and some sloppy puck management, and found themselves in a hole as a result.
New York was quite a bit better in the third period, and did have some good opportunities, with Bo Horvat hitting not one, but two posts. The Islanders went on to outshoot Dallas by a 15-8 margin in the period, but just couldn’t beat Oettinger, and Tyler Seguin ended up burying an empty netter for his second goal of the game, securing a 3-0 Stars win.
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There were some similarities in last night’s loss to Dallas, compared to the season opener against Utah. The Islanders were actually very good for stretches, and still look more dangerous offensively. Both of the top two lines ended the night with an expected goals percentage of 76 percent at 5-on-5, per NaturalStatTrick.com. The shutout wasn’t due to a lack of effort, and the Islanders had a lot of really good opportunities that were either narrowly missed, or stopped by Oettinger.
At the same time, there are still a lot of mistakes being made as well, with costly turnovers that end up in the back of their net. For as many chances as the Islanders may be generating, they also sometimes don’t force their opponent to have to work too hard for their opportunities.
Still, despite some concerning moments over their two games, I also don’t think last night’s loss should create a ton of worry. The Islanders were playing on the road against what should be one of the best teams in hockey, and didn’t look mismatched. If a few bounces go the other way, it could’ve easily been a different result.
The penalty kill also saw a bit of success, going 2-for-2 last night (it’s a small sample size but still, the bar is quite low right now). Meanwhile, Semyon Varlamov had a bit of a bounce-back game.
Still, the results need to come. While the Islanders being able to control the play more at times is a good sign, it won't matter all that much if they can't capitalize, and if they can't reduce the unforced errors.
The Islanders will face the Colorado Avalanche on the road tomorrow night, and one of the teams is about to be winless through their first three games. Puck drop for tomorrow night’s contest is at 9 p.m.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
- Can the Islanders take a step forward this season?
- Islanders announce roster, Pierre Engvall clears waivers
- Islanders lose back-and-forth season opener, fall 5-4 to Utah in overtime
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