3 Takeaways: Islanders Drop Season Opener to Florida Panthers

The New York Islanders dropped their first game of the season suffering a 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at UBS Arena.
Noah Dobson scored the lone goal for the Islanders on the power play in the third period to tie the game 1-1, but the Panthers regained the lead just 30 seconds later on a goal from Patric Hornqvist, and the Islanders failed to even the score. Florida's two other goals came from Eetu Luostarinen in the first period and on an empty netter from Matthew Tkachuk.
Ilya Sorokin saved 26 of 28 shots in the game, and the penalty kill went 5-for-5, but it wasn't enough to start the Islanders' season off with a win.

"I thought we had pockets where we were good," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "We came up pretty strong in the first for the most part. Thought the second period was not our best period, obviously. It put us on our heels a little bit. It was obviously a tight game, and to get scored on after we scored was a mistake for us."

DOBSON SCORES FIRST OF SEASON

Noah Dobson scored the Islanders first goal with a power play snipe from the point. After struggling to maintain possession on the first power play of the season, the Islanders' second try in the third period was significantly more successful.
Mathew Barzal entered the zone and found Dobson at the point, who passed the puck down to Brock Nelson along the boards. Nelson passed the puck back to Dobson, whose shot deflected off Luostarinen's stick past Bobrovsky's glove and into the net.
"It was good to get a power play after they had a bunch," Dobson said. "(Nelson) gave it back to me. (Anders Lee) doesn't get credit for any points on the goal, but he does a heck of a job with the screen, I think that's his specialty. He does a great job coming across and taking the eyes, and I just try to get one on net."
Dobson had a team-high six shots on goal, and a team-high nine attempts, so the defenseman appears to be picking up on the offensive note he left off on last season.

PENALTY KILL ON POINT

The Islanders went five-for-five on the penalty kill, keeping the Panthers' potent power play in check. Last season, Florida's power play ranked fifth in the league, converting on 24.4 percent of their opportunities. After Anders Lee took a penalty less than a minute into the game, it looked like the Islanders might be in for a rough night.
"When you're taking penalties, like we took five and spent 10 minutes killing," Lambert said. "It takes certain people out of the game a little bit and adds minutes to others that play both power play and penalty kill."
That early penalty kill set the tone for the game to come, where Ilya Sorokin and the defense managed to get the kill despite the Panthers' several scoring opportunities.
PANTHERS 3, ISLANDERS 1
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But despite taking five penalties, the Islanders' penalty kill was one of their biggest strengths Thursday. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Islanders had two high danger scoring chances shorthanded, both driven by Casey Cizikas.
"When the opportunity presents itself we want to try and take advantage of that," Cizikas said. "There were definitely a couple of chances where we were able to jump up into the rush and create something. We just have to put them in the back of the net when we get those. We want to be aggressive as a unit. We've got guys on the kill that can score. We're going to keep getting up the ice, we're going to try and make it difficult, but when it's in our end, we're going to take care of our business."

ROMANOV MAKES ISLANDERS DEBUT

Alexander Romanov made his regular season Islanders debut Thursday night. Romanov blocked a team high - and career-high - nine shots and played a team high 22:24, including 5:55 on the successful penalty kill. He also had four giveaways.
"He has that presence," Dobson said. "Especially on the kill, he had a lot of blocked shots. I thought he played well. He's physical, he's getting up the ice, he had some chances. He was all over the ice. It was good to see, and I'm sure he's just going to get better each game."
Romanov played primarily with Dobson at five-on-five, who he practiced with in training camp and played with in preseason. But Romanov played most of his time on the penalty kill alongside Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield.
"He had a number of hits, and he's working his way into the penalty kill system," Lambert said. "There were some good moments for him in that situation. Just like every other player, we're progressing."

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders take on the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.