It’s tough to score a power-play goal and a shorthanded goal and come away feeling as though the special teams weren’t good enough.
But the Islanders managed just that in their season-opening, 5-4 loss to Utah.
That’s because the power play scored once in six opportunities totaling 10:56, including a 4-minute double minor in the third period that could have changed the game.
And because the penalty kill gave up a pair of goals, including one less than a minute after scoring shorthanded.
All the ingredients for “good but not good enough” were on display on a night when the Islanders came away with one point, courtesy of getting to overtime, and a whole lot of frustration.
“It’s nice to move the puck, but at times you need shots on net,” coach Patrick Roy said of the 4-minute power play, which came after Ian Cole’s stick caught Anders Lee in the face at 9:22 of the third, with the game tied at three. “You need shots on net. And we did well getting in and moving that puck, but come on. We gotta get shots on net here. That’s what they did. They scored their goals. We need to be better.”
The total, over 10:56 at five-on-four, was seven shots and 11 scoring chances, six of which were high danger, for the Islanders.
But most of that total came in the first period and so did their only power play goal of the night.
“For sure,” Anthony Duclair said when asked if the unit had left something on the table. “It’s just one game. We still got lots to work on. I think the looks, just coming back to the bench and communicating, [being] lively. We got two good units out there, so we just gotta bury the chance when it comes.”
The penalty kill might find it tougher to pull some optimism out.
The Islanders struggled in their first game under the new “flush” system, with the lone bright spot being Jean-Gabriel Pageau charging up the ice for a shorthanded goal — the first of two leads the Islanders blew in short order in the final period.
“We need to be better on our PK,” Roy said. “We need to play PK with pride and block shots, make good decisions on our PK. Tonight, special units maybe was the difference.”
Maxim Tsyplakov scored and dished out six hits in his NHL debut to lead the team, though the second line composed of Tsyplakov, Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri was out-attempted 16-10, according to Natural Stat Trick.