New York Islanders Suffer Terrible 2017-18 Opening Night Loss

New York Islanders fans had all summer to get excited about the 2017-18 NHL season. And then in 20 minutes all of our excitement turned to disappointment and then into pure depression. On day one.

Are we as New York Islanders cursed for being too successful in the first decade of our existence as an NHL team? Will success escape us forever?

It’s dramatic I know. But after the months upon months of building up expectations for the season, we all wanted to have this crescendo on opening night. We wanted our excitement to be confirmed with a great on-ice performance.

A win would have been great. Even a tough loss would have been ok. But losing in this fashion is unacceptable.

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What Happened?!

Through the first twenty minutes, the New York Islanders just looked like the second-best team on the ice. And the Blue Jackets took full advantage, racing to a 2-0 lead in twenty minutes.

It wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t great. But it wasn’t something the New York Islanders couldn’t overcome with 40 minutes. Or so we thought. That’s what happens when life is about to hit you. You don’t see it coming and then WHAM!

After another 20 minutes had passed the Columbus Blue Jackets were up 5-0 on the Islanders. Nothing was going well for the Islanders. The defense was all over the place. The offense couldn’t generate anything and Thomas Greiss was having one of those nights you just want to forget.

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If anything the third period was better. Simply because the Blue Jackets added no goals on the Isles. Halak, who was put in after goal number five, stopped all shots he face for the period and a half he played.

I guess that’s what happens when Halak doesn’t have to share the crease with two other goaltenders during the season.

Is It That Bad?

It’s only game number one so in the grand scheme of things, no. It’s not a bad thing. But it’s certainly not a good thing. There’s no positive to draw from this.

The New York Islanders didn’t show up tonight. And they got dominated. Embarrassed.  Use the word you want to use for this display. But at the end of the night, it was awful.

After all that build up through the summer and through the preseason this was supposed to be the release. This was supposed to meet our expectations of a team that is taking steps in the right direction.

Next: Tavares Hates The Rangers

Again. It’s only game number one of 82. In the grand scheme of things, this isn’t the end of the season. It’s probably one of the worst start imaginable. But we can oovercome