Despite last nights result, the sky isn't falling for the NY Islanders

Last night’s 5-4 loss to the NY Rangers wasn’t what the fans hoped to see after holding a two-goal lead with five minutes to play - but there’s no need to lose sleep over a preseason loss. So all of Islanders nation needs to listen to current NY Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who said “Just relax, and breathe,” during a rough start to the season during his time with the Green Bay Packers.

While the last five minutes were a catastrophe, the NY Islanders played extremely well for the majority of the game, and have more positives to take away than negatives.

One person who hasn’t panicked at all is Head coach Patrick Roy and will use this as a teaching point.

“We need to be better at six on five, but we haven’t touched that [at practice],” Roy said. “So we’re going to practice that and we’ll fix that. There’s no worries for me in that regard in that we’re going to work at it and make sure that it is better than it was tonight”

Positives to take from last night

First off, this wasn’t Semyon Varlamov or Ilya Sorokin that the Rangers beat, it was Henrik Tikannen who spent most of last season playing with the Worcester Railers of the ECHL. No disrespect to Tikkanen, but he’s not yet an NHL-caliber netminder. 

Tikkanen took over for Varlamov at the midway point of the 2nd period, with Varly stopping all 10 shots he faced, and looked to be in midseason form.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway was the chemistry between the Anthony Duclair, Bo Horvat, and Mat Barzal line. All three recorded points, with Duclair looking like he’s played with his new linemates for years. Duclair and Barzal put together a beautiful two-on-one, leading to Duclair feeding Barzal to beat Igor Shesterkin in the first period. 

Being that there are a few battles for roster spots in the final two weeks before the season starts, Liam Foudy has emerged as a player who is in serious contention to steal a spot. The 24-year-old speedster was all over the ice last night and could add another element of speed to the bottom-six. Drafted 18th overall in 2018, Foudy is still coming into his own and has the potential to be a diamond in the rough for the Islanders. Last night was our first look at him in blue and orange, and Patrick Roy and Lou Lamoriello will surely be keeping a closer eye on him.