Patrick Roy mentioned multiple times in the days leading up to Thursday that the Islanders' preseason was successful not because of the results, but because of the process he felt was successful.
And while he can keep emphasizing that message as much as he wants after the opener, that doesn't tend to be what people say after a regular-season win.
But even more alarming than the fact that the Islanders started the season with a 5-4 loss in overtime to the Utah Hockey Club, courtesy of Dylan Guenther's game-winner, is the manner in which that loss occurred, courtesy of Dylan Guenther's game-winner. It was very similar to the way we lost.
There were problems at 5-on-5.
Breakouts in particular were out of sync, with Scott Mayfield and Mike Riley exchanging turnovers on missed D-to-D passes in the first period, and the top six, which had looked very strong in the exhibition, were in rhythm. I couldn't ride it. Until late in the game.
But it was the double lead in the third period and subsequent stalling in the inevitable overtime that gave us a bad sense of déjà vu.
Thanks to Semyon Varlamov, the power play and Utah's own early-season twist, the Islanders entered the final 20 minutes down just 2-1 and had a chance to rewrite the narrative of the night.
After Bo Horvat scored the tying goal less than two minutes into the third, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored short-handed on a brilliant hustle play, chasing the puck up the ice and hitting Simon Holmstrom's It looked like they were going to do just that when they knocked it down after the first shot. .
The lead didn't last until the rest of the penalty kill, however, as Dylan Gunter quickly tied the game, and shortly after that the Islanders had a four-minute chance, but they came up short.
At least the third period looked much better at 5-on-5 than the first two, and it looked like the Islanders had won when Maxim Tsyplakov scored at 2:07 to take a 4-3 lead.
But in a bad sequel to last season, the Islanders spit it out before the celebration was over, as Josh Doan scored 13 seconds later to tie it, and Utah scored before the Islanders' goal. It was the second time in the opening match. Announced at Arena.
Then in overtime, the inevitable happened when Gunter made a 3-on-1 rush after an Islanders turnover.
It's one of 82 games, so pick your favorite cliché to handwave the night and say things will eventually get better.
If you were looking for encouragement, it was the fact that Connor Ingram made three saves (one in each period) that amounted to a total robbery. Every play had the potential to turn the tide in the Islanders' favor.
Varlamov also seemed to be back to form last season, making 21 stops and looking as solid at the net as ever, a key takeaway as the Islanders navigate Ilya Sorokin's return from hip surgery. It became.
But the improved penalty kill gave Duclair a goal on his first chance, giving one back to Lawson Kroos, and at 13:07 Barrett Hayton deflected Mikhail Sergachev's left point shot. Utah extended its lead.
The several turnovers leading up to that goal were the Islanders' worst moments of the game. They were forced into their own half and couldn't break out, especially the second line.
It wasn't a full-blown disaster, and even if it were, no one would pull the fire alarm after one game.
But with an immediate road test against Western Conference contenders scheduled to begin Saturday night in Dallas, the Islanders need to do better than this or fall into the early standings they'd hoped to avoid. You're going to fall into a hole.
This has been a feature of the past few seasons, with the Isles needing a late scramble to make the playoffs the past two seasons.
The talk of camp was that they started with enough momentum to avoid such an outcome.
In that respect, at least this first 60 minutes, it wasn't very encouraging.
