The Islanders finished off a successful opening weekend, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes in front of a sold-out crowd at the Coliseum. John Tavares, Brock Nelson, Cory Conacher and Josh Bailey scored the goals for the Islanders and Chad Johnson stopped 24 of 21 shots for his first win of the young season. There is still a lot to work on put let's focus on what went right last night, first.

The Islanders were very good at even strength and carried the play five on five the entire night. They received good energy from the fourth line. I was really impressed with the third line especially the play of Nikolay Kulemin. There was constant effort and energy from all the forwards. Everyone's feet were moving the entire night. When a defenseman pinched, I saw forwards rotate back and, let me tell you, that was refreshing. Chad Johnson wasn't perfect but boy is he an upgrade over what we have had. He was quiet in goal and projected calmness and confidence.

The power play continues to generate goals but more importantly pressure and constant chances. Johnny Boychuk looks like the perfect fit right now and while Nick Leddy has been quiet, you can see his ability. Brock Nelson looks like a beast right now using his size and skill to generate offense and, honestly, I would leave him right where he is. Spread the offense out at full strength. I love loading up for the power play but Nelson's line was generating chances at even strength and the more balanced scoring the Isles have, the better they will be.

Not everything was perfect as the penalty kill was awful in the first period. Both goals were a result of penetration inside the Isles' box and neither of the first two goals could be blamed on Chad Johnson. I will say this though, the final two penalty kills were much better as the Isles were able to keep the Hurricanes on the perimeter for much of those kills so that is an encouraging sign.

The bottom defensive pairing has also struggled over the first two games. Griffin Reinhart has been okay. I don’t want to get on him too much but his partner Brian Strait is playing himself out of the NHL. Every time he is on the ice the Hurricanes had chances on his side of the ice. I do think the team will be seriously improved when Calvin de Haan and Lubomir Visnovsky return to this lineup. Strait needs to be sent to the AHL and if he is claimed then so be it. Reinhart has been fine but the Islanders are in a position where they don’t have to babysit kids on the fly. I have no issues if he was sent to Bridgeport and given a chance to log a ton of ice time and push for a full time roster spot later in the year.

What I did see last night was a different team. There is still plenty to be worked on but I am encouraged with how they played with the lead and their overall play at even strength. Beyond the misplay by Chad Johnson leading to the third Carolina goal, the Isles controlled the play in the third period and kept the puck in the Hurricanes end. I'm not a huge proponent of CORSI or all advanced stats but I'm aware of how a team should play with a lead. That is when possession stats are relevant. You hold a lead by possessing the puck and the Islanders did that in the third period.

The boys are back at it on Tuesday as they will face off with the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. This next week will be a great litmus test for the team as they face the Rangers, Sharks, and Penguins. What we have seen so far though is more than encouraging. The Isles have struggled horrifically with the Hurricanes and while not perfect they did what they had to get four points this weekend. As always, for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.

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