Islanders set to open new home after season-opening 13-game road stretch

SUNRISE, Fla. - The New York Islanders' 13-game road stretch to start the season ended with a fourth straight loss, 6-1 to the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.

New York allowed at least four goals for the fourth straight game for the first time with Barry Trotz as coach, and it happened before the end of the first period when Florida forward Patric Hornqvist beat Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin from a sharp angle at 18:13 to make it 4-0.
But a stretch that began Oct. 14 is over. The Islanders will open their new home, UBS Arena, on Saturday against the Calgary Flames. They come home with a 5-6-2 record and the hope that the start of this next chapter in their history will help turn things around.
"It's turned into a nightmare the last little while here," Trotz said Tuesday. "We're looking forward to getting back. We'll open that arena, hopefully it'll give us some new energy, a new focus, whatever it is.
"To be honest, it hasn't been easy. From our standpoint, we've just got to play better. You look at almost .500 on this road trip, I felt like we should be a little better than that. … We were at a point where we were sitting in pretty good shape and we've sort of taken some steps backward here the last little while."
They will have to find a way to step forward without defenseman Ryan Pulock, who is out 4-6 weeks with a lower-body injury sustained in a 4-1 loss at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday. Forward Josh Bailey tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday and entered NHL protocol before the game. Bailey is staying in Florida to quarantine.
But regardless of the lineup, the Islanders said they know there's another level they've yet to reach after back-to-back appearances in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tuesday was the second time in nine days they allowed four goals in a period; they gave up four in the third period of a 5-2 loss at the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 7.
The Islanders gave little help Tuesday to Sorokin, who had three shutouts during the road stretch; he allowed four goals on 17 shots in the first period while his teammates struggled with slowing down the Panthers forwards and/or clear secondary opportunities, the same issues that plagued them in Tampa a night earlier.

"We're definitely upset with our play, there's no doubt about it," center Casey Cizikas said. "We take a lot of pride in who we are and how we play. It's not easy, but we'll be upset about this tonight, get home and get the body ready and be ready for that home opener now. It's time to pick it up and play our game, four lines, six D, two goalies, come out hard. That's the only way we're going to get out of this, is playing hard. It's up to us. We can't rely on anyone else to help us, it's on us.
"We've got a group here that believes in each other. We don't care what anyone in the outside world says. We believe in each other and we know what we're capable of, and it's a matter of getting back to that and finding our groove. It's not going to be easy, it's going to be hard and we're ready for that challenge."
They'll need more contributions across the board; forward Kyle Palmieri scored his first goal of the season Tuesday, a wrist shot from the right circle to make it 5-1 at 15:00 of the second period. Zach Parise, who agreed to a one-year contract after forward Jordan Eberle was selected by the Seattle Kraken at the NHL Expansion Draft, has yet to score a goal. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who scored 14 goals in 54 games last season, has one goal in 12 games.
"We all want to contribute every night and find a way to win hockey games," Palmieri said. "We've just got to start stepping in the right direction in that regards."
Perhaps the home opener will provide the boost the Islanders need, even if they've yet to skate in the new arena. But Trotz said it's ultimately up to the players and staff to right the ship.
"Hopefully it gives us some energy right now," Trotz said. "I don't think you can go in our room and anybody feels really great about anything, other than we got this road trip done. We're hoping that: A. we can get that energy, B. we'll hopefully get our own game; we can only fix that, the fans can't.
"The first little while will be neutral-zone sites, the first couple of games, because for me, we haven't been there, and the other teams will be there. But I'm hoping it'll reenergize us and hopefully get our game in order. We've got too many pieces missing right now in terms of our game that we can have any success. … It's on us. We can't fix it unless we're all committed to it. That's everybody, it's not one or two guys. It's everybody."