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After picking up their first win of the season against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, the New York Islanders fell in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.
While they did take a 4-1 win over Chicago, that still wasn’t necessarily a great outing for New York. They were outplayed through much of the game, giving up 40 shots and some great chances. If Ilya Sorokin hadn’t been on his game, it could’ve been a different story.
Then last night, the Islanders had a strong first 40 minutes, despite the team finding themselves down after the second period. New York had done a good job limiting chances and were up 26-19 in shots. Despite tying the game in the third period though, the Islanders didn’t really finish strong and let their foot off the gas. Much of the third period was spent in the Islanders’ end and the Blue Jackets had some momentum heading into overtime, where they got the win.
So while the Islanders did take three of four points in their last two games, they still have yet to piece together a complete performance.
New York’s top-six hasn’t been where it needs to be. Here are the stats so far for the top-six group through four games:
Mathew Barzal: 2G, 0A
Anthony Beauvillier: 1G, 1A
Kyle Palmieri: 0G, 2A
Anders Lee: 1G, 0A *(3 GP)
Brock Nelson: 1G, 0A
Josh Bailey: 0G, 1A
The power play has also been terrible, going 1-for-12 so far. While the team has never been good on the man advantage, it’s been making a difference so far.
There also isn't much offense coming from the blue line, with Nick Leddy’s departure. Noah Dobson is the team’s only real offensive defenseman, but he’s still not at a point where he should be facing an overly high quality of competition. Ryan Pulock can contribute as well once the team is set up in the offensive zone but the loss of Leddy is being felt, when it comes to offensive contributions from the defense group.
The man brought in to help ease the loss of Leddy, Zdeno Chara, has not looked good. I don’t see what he’s contributed so far in any way, and he has not justified his role. We’re still just four games in, but his presence (and usage) in the defense group is one of my largest concerns about the team right now.
Early on, the Islanders have allowed the fourth-most shots against per game in the league. So while there may be a boost when Semyon Varlamov returns, Ilya Sorokin has been facing a difficult workload at times so far, and not many of the goals at all can be pinned on him. He’s been far from great, but there’s a larger issue here.
It's still very early and there's no reason to panic, but the Islanders are still shaking off some of the rust early in the season.
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OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Projecting the New York Islanders’ 23-man roster
Contract details for Zdeno Chara and Zach Parise revealed
Islanders’ opening night roster released
Where will the Islanders finish within the Metropolitan Division?
Islanders sign Ryan Pulock to eight-year contract extension
Analyzing Ryan Pulock's contract extension
Islanders’ slow start not a cause for concern 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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