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The New York Islanders came up short against the Florida Panthers today, losing 3-2 in the second half of their weekend back-to-back.
The Islanders mixed up their lines for the game and both Josh Bailey and Ross Johnston also entered the lineup, in place of Anthony Beauvillier and Nikita Soshnikov. Semyon Varlamov was in net for his second start of the season.
The Islanders got off to a brutal start, as under a minute into the game, Adam Pelech was stripped of the puck behind the net and Anton Lundell took somehow managed to sneak it through Varlamov, on a weak goal to put New York down 1-0 right away. Florida had all the momentum after that and outplayed New York badly through the first half of the frame, with the Islanders getting nothing going on a power play either. Then midway through the period, Eetu Luostarinen put the Panthers up by two after his initial shot hit Noah Dobson up high, but he followed up to beat Varlamov on the blocker side. New York failed to get anything going through the rest of the frame, looking poorly on another power play afterwards, and remained down 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Early in the second period though, the Islanders ended up with a four-minute power play and they were able to capitalize on this one, with Mathew Barzal firing a shot that was deflected by Anders Lee, as the puck's direction changed to go up and over Spencer Knight and in. However, they really didn’t manage to build on the momentum and couldn't get anything going offensively afterwards. New York managed just seven shots in the frame and remained down 2-1 heading into the second intermission.
The Panthers restored their two-goal lead under three minutes into the third period, as the Islanders were pinned in their end and the puck bounced out to Ryan Lomberg, who wired a shot past Varlamov. Though the Islanders weren’t generating a ton of chances after that though, they did end up on a 5-on-3 midway through the period and Anders Lee buried a rebound in front for his second goal of the game, bringing the Islanders back to within a goal.
The goal did seem to spark the Islanders a bit, as they were able to build some pressure afterwards and were sustaining zone time. They were playing with a bit more urgency but still failed to generate anything substantial in the final few minutes and ended up falling 3-2.
While I don’t think this was necessarily a poor effort for the Islanders, they just looked outmatched at even strength, generating few quality chances throughout the game. They managed just 25 shots overall and of the shots they did have, very few posed any sort of legitimate scoring threat. Being on a road back-to-back where they played Tampa Bay yesterday certainly wouldn’t have helped, but they just really struggled to create offense.
Getting down early has also been an issue for the Islanders this season, having allowed the first goal in five of their six games so far this year. The Islanders aren't a team that's going to score a ton of goals this year, so there needs to be an emphasis on not going down early.
Speaking of overcoming their offensive issues, I wasn’t a fan of scratching Anthony Beauvillier. He hasn’t been outstanding but I really don’t see the use of having both Matt Martin and Ross Johnston in the lineup at the same time, let alone using Johnston in the top-nine.
Things aren’t necessarily getting easier for the Islanders either, with their next three games coming against the New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche. Beating good teams was a major issue for New York last season, where they could pretty consistently beat teams lower than them in the standings but rarely took down a top team. They’ll need to change this and take some points from their games this week, to avoid falling further in a competitive Metropolitan Division.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM OCTOBER
Islanders sign Mathew Barzal to eight-year contract extension
Islanders announce opening night roster
Andy Greene announces retirement
Islanders fall short against Panthers in season opener
Islanders blow out Ducks, Lane Lambert picks up first win as NHL head coach
Islanders earn another home win, defeat Sharks 5-2
Islanders fall flat in loss to Devils
Islanders lose to Lightning in first road game of season 
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