The Islanders were feeling pretty good about their performance in the first four games of the season.
However, until Saturday, they hadn’t really faced off against a strong competitor.
With that match-up finally occurring, the Islanders can take some positives away, but overall, the results were disappointing.
The Lightning proved to be quicker and more strategic. Tampa Bay managed to outplay the Islanders for a full 60 minutes, securing a 5-3 victory at UBS Arena, largely thanks to Brandon Hagel’s hat trick.
“We just didn’t arrive on time,” coach Pete DeBoer mentioned. “But once we did, we really went toe-to-toe with them.”
Understanding why it’s crucial to perform well against teams like Chicago on Thursday or Vancouver on Tuesday? Saturday’s game illustrates that need quite clearly.
Despite spending over seven minutes in the penalty box, the Islanders showed resilience and also demonstrated solid penalty-killing, keeping themselves competitive late into the game.
As seen a few times this season, the Islanders started to find their rhythm as the game progressed. They ramped up the pressure and began to disrupt Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy’s sightlines during the second period. This effort paid off with Tony DeAngelo scoring to narrow the gap to 2-1, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau added another goal to make it 3-2, which showcased Matthew Schaefer’s impressive skills.
Schaefer executed a precise move, deftly maneuvering past Anthony Cirelli to create an opportunity, resulting in Pageau tipping the puck past Vasilevskiy, leading to a spirited celebration.
After that, Schaefer really took control of the game. His puck-handling skill was key in assisting the game-tying goal just before the close of the second period. He managed to glove the puck back into play, allowing Brayden Schenn to connect with Kyle Palmieri’s pass, while Erik Cernak’s stick provided an inadvertent final touch that sent it into the net.
What followed was an electrifying third period, far more exciting than anything the Islanders had showcased previously this season—an intense blend of back-and-forth action and physical play.
With under two minutes left, the score still stood at 3-3, though the Lightning were beginning to seize control. It took just a brief shift in the offensive zone for Tampa Bay to take the lead—Hagel scored with a seemingly harmless shot from the right circle with 1:44 remaining and then sealed his own hat trick by scoring into an empty net just 21 seconds later.
“We checked off a lot of the boxes in terms of how we need to play,” DeBoer reflected. “But we need to maintain that for a full 60 minutes. You can’t give a team like that a two-goal head start.”
The elements and work ethic that DeBoer is trying to cultivate within the team have already been refined by Jon Cooper’s Lightning. There were times when the Islanders matched Tampa’s intensity, but over the course of the full 60 minutes—especially in the initial 20—they fell short too often.
Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock, who were once a dominant defensive pair in previous playoff runs, particularly struggled. The duo faced challenges against Hagel, who skated through them to score, and again against Jake Guentzel, who was left open near the crease to net the Lightning’s third goal during a power play.
“The start was simply unacceptable,” Pelech remarked. “Some of those goals in the first period were on me. We need to execute better, bring more intensity, and focus on winning our duels to succeed from the outset.”
Puck management, which DeBoer emphasized in recent days, was also a notable issue early on, as the Islanders consistently faced frustration during their breakouts due to poor decision-making.
It’s a bit contradictory, but clearly, the Islanders improving as the game went on is a positive sign. Yet, it’s also concerning, perhaps even detrimental, that it took them around 25 minutes to fully engage.
“We’re going to improve,” Schaefer stated. “We need to come out stronger next time and maintain that intensity throughout the game.”
