The New York Islanders start their season on Saturday night, Oct. 14 against the Buffalo Sabres. It’s a great way to hit the ground running for the Islanders as their schedule remains intense throughout the first week of action. After the opening night game, they host the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 17 and round out the week with games against the New Jersey Devils on the 20th and the Sabres on the 21st.
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They’ll be tested early on in a season where they look to compete with the best in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders are looking to start the season strong and the first week can provide a lot of indications on how things might fare for the veteran-heavy team. There are some things worth keeping an eye on, starting with the three games in the first week that take place at UBS Arena.
Home Cooking?
The Islanders play their first three games of the season at home before heading to Buffalo for their first road game. This is a stark contrast from the 2021-22 season where the Islanders played 13 consecutive road games before their inaugural game at UBS Arena on Nov. 20 against the Calgary Flames. That early-season road trip put them behind the eight ball early as they went 5-8 and fell behind in the standings.
This season, the Islanders have the opportunity to pile up the wins at home early. They have to make UBS Arena theirs and a true home-ice advantage. In the past two seasons, they’ve gone 45-29-8 in the new state-of-the-art arena, a good mark but not nearly the same as Nassau Coliseum, where the Islanders not only have a better record but a lot of the team’s iconic moments. In the playoffs, the hope was that the team could give the fans at UBS Arena a Coliseum moment. Unfortunately, that never happened as they struggled in the first round and only won one home game in the series.
This season, the hope is things will be different. With three consecutive home games, they can string together a few wins and most importantly, start the season off on the right foot.
Islanders’ Defense Must Stunt High-Powered Offenses
The Islanders face the Sabres twice and the Devils in their first week. The Sabres had the league’s third-best offense last season, scoring 3.57 goals per game, and look to be even better this season with Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, and Jack Quinn entering their primes. The Devils had the fourth-best offense with 3.52 goals per game and with Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier leading the way, they once again look to dominate opposing defenses. The Islanders’ defense will have its hands full, to say the least.
The first week will test the defensive unit, which has been an integral part of the team’s success in recent seasons. Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech lead the top pairing while Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, and Scott Mayfield, who signed a seven-year contract this offseason, round out the unit. They’ve proven they can limit the best offenses in the league but this week, it’s a different task. Unlike previous seasons, the Islanders have to step up against offenses playing at a different speed, with the Sabres and Devils gashing teams in space with their fast forwards. The Islanders have to cut off angles to the net on the rush and eliminate open ice to prevent quick scoring chances against both high-powered offenses.
This week to an extent will be telling how the defense will fare throughout the season. The league is more skilled and faster than ever before and great defenses must be up to the task of stopping them. The Devils and Sabres are two of the teams leading the way for the new-age offenses but a lot of teams will test the Islanders’ defense in a similar manner. The unit stepping up and putting together a strong first week will provide a positive outlook for the season ahead and more importantly, remind the league that this defense is capable of shutting down any offense.
Islanders Back-to-Back Requires Varlamov to Bring It
The games against the Devils and Sabres on Oct. 20 and 21 will be the first back-to-back for the Islanders this season. Ilya Sorokin has proven he can start on short rest and do so at a high level but early on in the season, the strategy is a nonstarter for the Islanders.
There were a lot of questions about the deal Semyon Varlamov received this offseason. At 35 years old, it’s unclear what type of backup he will be for the foreseeable future and after signing a four-year contract, the question is how well that deal will look in a few seasons. For now, he’s the unquestioned backup and one that the Islanders will count on.
In the first week of the season, the Islanders will need Varlamov to play one of the games in the back-to-back. He had a respectable 2022-23 season with a .913 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.70 goals-against average (GAA) on 689 shots with 6.0 goals saved above average (GSAA) and needs to pick up where he left off from a season ago. Varlamov keeping the goaltending unit a team strength will allow the Islanders to not only remain a great team all season but possibly one of the best in the NHL, where goaltending around the league has declined.
What Changes On the Power Play?
The power play was awful last season, scoring only 15.77 percent of opportunities. The Islanders had no direction on the man advantage as the unit became a weak link and a liability. To say the power play must improve is an understatement. If the Islanders want to remain competitive this season, it must be at least league average or good enough to allow the team to take advantage of penalties from the opposition.
In the first round, the Islanders only scored once on the power play in the series. In comparison, the Carolina Hurricanes scored five goals on the man advantage and it made the difference in a lot of close games. The non-existent power play wasn’t the reason the Islanders lost the series, but it was one of the many factors the Hurricanes easily defeated them in six games.
In the first week, the Islanders will provide a glimpse of what the improvements or upgrades to the unit will be. Head coach Lane Lambert had all offseason to work on forming an identity for the power play and find a way to turn things around. Whether it’s a change at the point with Noah Dobson playing more aggressively or Mathew Barzal handling the puck from the wing and looking for Bo Horvat in the bumper position, there will be changes in how the unit operates. In the first few games, a few goals on the man advantage will be the difference between wins and losses but notably will provide optimism for the season ahead.
Other Things to Watch Out For
One of the underlying questions for the Islanders is what the lines will look like, not just this week but throughout the season. Last season, Lambert would constantly shuffle the lines from game to game and even within a game with hopes that it would turn the offense around. Unfortunately, the strategy backfired as a lot of skaters struggled to form a strong connection with their linemates and it was an issue that plagued the team throughout the season.
Within the first week, it will be clear whether Lambert will stick with the same lineup or continue to change the lines. Likewise, his imprint on the Islanders will be on full display in the first week of action. Will he play a fast-paced system like he did at the start of last season or will the team continue to win with slow, defense-first games as they did in the Barry Trotz years? When he was hired in the 2022 offseason, the hope was that he would turn the Islanders into a Cup contender, and in his second year behind the bench all eyes will be on him and how his influence changes the team.
The Islanders have a big week ahead and one that can provide a glimpse into what the season will look like in the future. They won’t win the Cup in the first week and even with a tough week, they can’t lose it either but how they play will be telling for the season ahead.
