New York Islanders: No Need To Panic After Game 1

Despite losing Game 1, the New York Islanders are in just fine shape. There’s no need to panic after losing a tight game so early in the series.

In a perfect world, the New York Islanders win that game last night. Unfortunately, this world is far from perfect, but you can still take some positives out of last night’s 1-0 overtime loss against the Hurricanes.

There’s no way the Islanders are going to win every single playoff game they play. The team’s they play are just too good to continue to win four straight. The way this team lost showed that they can hang with Carolina on any night.

Sure, mistakes were made, including 25 turnovers, but the Islanders were in this game until the very end. It took a Jordan Staal shot from a nasty angle, that just barely beat Robin Lehner to lose that game. The team is going to be just fine.

In the regular season, the team never lost more than two games in a row in regulation. After losses, the Isles had an 11-8-4 record. If the Isles played exactly how they did yesterday, they should be able to beat the Hurricanes.

Last night showed that these two teams are very well matched up. Both rely on defense, checking, and clutch scoring from their forwards. The Canes are just better in the corsi category which is why advanced stats people love them but can’t stand the Islanders.

At the end of the day, the game came down to one mistake. A bad turnover from Cal Clutterbuck which led to an extended shift in the Islanders zone. That was the difference. If not for a questionable call on Anders Lee the Isles might have won this thing 1-0 in regulation.

If I’m a betting man, I’m not betting that Petr Mrazek is able to put up the same performance tomorrow afternoon. He was spectacular and I’m not taking anything away from him, it’s just that he hasn’t shown any consistency all year so if the Isles get their chances like they did yesterday, they’re eventually going to start going in.

Sunday afternoon at the Barclays Center is a game you have to win. Split at home and split on the road and the Isles would be in good shape just having to take two of the final three games (two on home ice).

If Barry Trotz has taught me one thing this year it’s don’t panic. I’m confident that Barry will have this team ready to go tomorrow afternoon.