Greiss came within 1:35 of a shutout. The 44th shot he faced, a one-timer from Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton, was redirected in front by forward Jordan Staal and was upheld after a lengthy video review; Trotz challenged that Greiss was bumped moments before the shot by Hurricanes forward Micheal Ferland.
"He was good tonight," Trotz said of Greiss, whose biggest save came at 4:49 of the third period on a one-timer from Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho. "You're gonna steal some, and he was good. He had friendly posts. He was good. He gave us a chance all night. I was hoping he'd get a shutout, he played that well."
The challenges will continue for Trotz, who must find ways to get the Islanders to be more responsible with the puck, particularly in their own zone. The Islanders returned to New York shortly after Josh Bailey scored a power-play goal 43 seconds into overtime in preparation for their home opener against the Nashville Predators, the team Trotz began his NHL coaching career with in 1998, at Barclays Center on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, FS-TN, NHL.TV).
"As a coach, you always want perfection," Trotz said. "You didn't have perfection tonight. You're starting to think, 'OK, what do I have to fix and repair?' "
Thursday wasn't only Trotz's debut as coach, but also for Lou Lamoriello as Islanders general manager, not to mention the makeover that transpired up and down the staff after New York missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season. Garth Snow was fired as GM and Doug Weight as coach on June 5. Trotz was hired on June 21, exactly two weeks after he led the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup championship.
"The amount of work that this whole staff has put in has been pretty remarkable," right wing Cal Clutterbuck said. "The amount of information coming our way is overwhelming at times, but it's good to see him get the first one. Obviously, he's a seasoned guy and I think he's prepared us well and we'll start to really take hold of these things as we move forward. I think we're kind of building towards progressing and peaking at the right time. But they've done a great job and I'm happy for him."