Islanders face stern tests against the NHL's top teams over the next week
Head coach Lane Lambert of the Islanders looks on during the third period against the New Jersey Devils at UBS Arena on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
TAMPA, Fla. — Lane Lambert doesn’t look at opponents, or stretches of opponents, as measuring sticks.
But the Islanders’ upcoming obstacle course of a schedule, starting with Saturday night’s game against the three-time Stanley Cup finalist Lightning at Amalie Arena, certainly could be viewed as such.
“Well, I don’t use the term ‘measuring stick,’ ” Lambert said. “But certainly, over the next few days, we have some good teams we’re going to play against and we’re just going to have to take it one game at a time.”
The Islanders will conclude their quick Florida swing late Sunday afternoon against the Panthers, who beat them, 3-1, in the season opener at UBS Arena on Oct. 13 and finished atop the NHL standings last season with 122 points. The Islanders then will face the Rangers, who lost to the Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, on Wednesday in the teams’ only matchup at UBS Arena this season.
Friday brings a road game against the Hurricanes, who finished first in the Metropolitan Division the past two seasons, before the Islanders host the reigning Cup champion Avalanche the next night.
Thursday night’s 4-1 loss to the visiting Devils, in which the Islanders were outskated and outbattled from the opening faceoff, amplified their need to prove that performance was an aberration and that they are equipped to compete with the NHL’s faster teams.
“Potentially,” Zach Parise said about this stretch being a measuring stick. “These teams we’re going to be playing against, they had great seasons last year and, even a handful of them, the last few years. It will be good to see where we’re at. It will be good to see how can we rebound after last game. It might have been a step backwards from the way we’re trying to play. See if we can erase that and go back to what we want to do.”
“It’s a good challenge for us,” defenseman Scott Mayfield said. “Our last game wasn’t our best game, so we want to regroup. We have confidence in this room. We know what our group is. We’re happy with the guys we’ve got in this room. We know what we can do when we play our best. The biggest thing is just showing up every game with that 100% effort.”
Mathew Barzal remarked after Thursday’s disappointing loss, which followed wins over the struggling Ducks and Sharks, that the Islanders hadn’t yet faced a team as fast as the Devils.
On Friday, Barzal expressed his confidence that the Islanders are “a quick team” and that turning the puck over in Thursday’s loss was the real issue, not an ability to keep up with fast teams.
“First of all, I agree with him,” Lambert said. “Secondly, we just got away from some of the concepts that we had implemented in the first few games. We can be fast. We can move the puck quickly. Part of being fast for us and slowing other teams down is being physical, and we weren’t physical enough. So there’s certainly a way of doing it.”
Still, the Lightning, Panthers, Rangers, Hurricanes and, above all, the Avalanche definitely qualify as being among the league’s fastest teams.
“It’s a fast league,” Parise said. “There’s not a ton of time out there. So if you’re not making clean plays, if you’re not supporting each other, you’re going to have games like you had last night where it just feels like there’s 10 New Jersey Devils on the ice the whole time and they’re buzzing around. If we can manage the puck better, you limit those types of games you have.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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