PREVIEW: Blue Jackets open homestand Thursday vs. Islanders

BLUE JACKETS (2-1-0) vs. ISLANDERS (1-2-0)

"I don't think we needed to watch the film on that," Larsen said Wednesday. "Pretty easy. I went through some stuff, but there's not a lot of things to take from that other than we just weren't there."
GAMEDAY GUIDE: The CBJ lineup, notes, quotes and more ahead of tonight
It was a bit of a shock to the system after Columbus had used an offensive explosion to post an 8-2 victory in the season opener vs. Arizona last Thursday, then came back and put on a defensive clinic in a 2-1 overtime triumph over Seattle on Saturday to reach 2-0 for the first time in seven seasons.
But any hopes of a 3-0 start for the first time in franchise history disappeared somewhat quickly, as Detroit was on the front foot from the beginning. While the Red Wings didn't score until the third period, Detroit had a big advantage in shots on goal throughout the night, and Columbus just couldn't get on the same page. Had it not been for a 41-save showing by goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in his season debut, it could have been a blowout.
"You're always surprised, right?" Larsen said of the performance. "You always go, 'Well, why?' I thought we practiced great the day before. I thought we had some great meetings. I thought guys were energized, and then we were flat. Again, give credit to the other team, too. I think we do this a lot where we go, 'What's wrong with us?' They were very assertive, they were on their toes, and they pressured a lot.
"We turned the puck over way too much, and that fed into their speed and aggression, and it snowballed the wrong way."
But as alternate captain and veteran forward Gus Nyquist said, the good news is the Blue Jackets get a chance to get right back at it, starting a three-game homestand tonight against the New York Islanders. The key will be to shake off the loss and use some of their youthful enthusiasm to get back on the right track.
"Every team I think a couple of times a year maybe has a game like that," Nyquist said. "It's not something that we are obviously going to try to do again, but I think every team goes through it. It doesn't matter if you're young or old, but that was just not good enough. That's not us, and we'll make sure that doesn't happen again tomorrow."

Know the Foe

A chic pick to win the Metropolitan Division after two straight appearances in the conference finals, the Islanders instead are off to a bit of a tough start, having started with consecutive losses to Carolina and Florida before a win Tuesday over Chicago.
The biggest concern was the Isles gave up a combined 11 goals in the first two games before playing their style against the Blackhawks in a 4-1 victory that continued Chicago's tough start. Led again by general manager Lou Lamoriello and head coach Barry Trotz, the Isles have used opportunistic offense and lockdown defense the past two seasons to have both regular-season and postseason success.
That's one reason why it might be a little surprising to see New York giving up 36.7 shots on goal per game, 27th in the NHL. A year ago, the Isles were second in the NHL while giving up just 2.23 goals per game and ceded 28.4 shots on goal per game, 10th in the league.
So far the leader offensively is 21-year-old forward Oliver Wahlstrom, a Boston College and USNTDP product who became a full-time NHLer last year and has impressed so far this year with three goals in three games, including two in the win over the Blackhawks. The Islanders also have single goals from Mat Barzal, Anthony Beauviller, Anders Lee, Cal Clutterbuck and Brock Nelson, plus a pair of assists from Kyle Palmieri.
New York also boasts Josh Bailey, who finished second on the team last year with 35 points but is yet to hit the scoresheet, while the big offseason adds were veterans Zach Parisa up front and Zdeno Chara on the blue line. Meanwhile, two of the top five scorers in forward Jordan Eberle (Seattle) and Nick Leddy (Detroit) are gone from a year ago.
In net, 26-year-old Russian Ilya Sorokin has all three starts and has posted a 3.71 GAA and .899 save percentage. Semyon Varlamov remains with the team but is on injured reserve, with Cory Schneider serving as the backup at the moment.