Takeaways: Islanders Pick Up Point in 5-4 OT Loss to Utah 

The New York Islanders picked up a point in their home opener in a 5-4 OT loss to the Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night at UBS Arena.

Dylan Guenther’s OT goal at 2:18 of the extra frame won the game for Utah after a back-and-forth contest. Anthony Duclair (PPG), Bo Horvat, JG Pageau (SHG) and Maxim Tsyplakov found the back of the net for the Isles, but it wasn’t enough to earn the two points.

New York and Utah swapped power-play goals in the first period, with Duclair opening the scoring at 11:10 and Lawson Crouse potting a power-play tally at 19:01.

The Isles felt a bit flat in the second period – recording one shot on goal in the final 9:52 and falling behind 2-1 before the end of the frame – but had a strong response early in the third. After a strong passing sequence with Duclair and Noah Dobson, Horvat finished it off by beaming a shot from the slot past Connor Ingram at 1:03 of the second to tie the game at two apiece.

The Islanders’ PK unit contributed some important offense in the third, as Simon Holmstrom’s shot was bobbled by Ingram allowingPageau to bury a backhand goal to grab a 3-2 lead for the Isles. Utah bit back fast, as Guenther scored a power-play goal at 7:35 to tie up the score.

The Isles had an opportunity to jump back on top when Ian Cole received a double minor penalty for high sticking Anders Lee but couldn’t convert.

The Kyle Palmieri-Brock Nelson-Tsyplakov line formed a momentous three-on-two late in the third, with Tsyplakov depositing a feed from Nelson to take a 4-3 advantage. Utah again responded quickly, with Josh Doan scoring 13 seconds later to make it a four-all game.

Guenther’s second goal of the game was the OT winner for Utah when he cleanly beat Semyon Varlamov on a three-on-two rush from the slot. Varlamov made 21 of 26 saves. Ingram stopped 21 of 25 in the win.

"One thing we need to be better at, is when we have the lead, find a way to protect it. Twice we gave them the chance to come back in that game," Head Coach Patrick Roy said. "Without playing our best game, I thought we did a lot of good things, [and] we kept them a little about 25 shots. They were putting pressure on us, but I felt like we could have made better decisions at times."

DUCLAIR, TSYPLAKOV SCORE IN ISLES DEBUT

Though the Isles didn’t get the result they wanted, two of the newest members on the team scored in their official debuts.

Anthony Duclair had a two-point night (1G, 1A) and looked comfortable on a line with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, displaying the chemistry he developed during a productive training camp. Duclair had a strong primary helper to Horvat’s early third period goal to tie the score at two.

Though Duclair was happy to contribute, his main priority is helping the team get the two points.

"Always good to produce in any kind of way, but they're looking for wins," Duclair said. “It's just one game, still lots to work on."

Throughout the entirety of camp and preseason action, Duclair skated with Horvat and Barzal both as linemates and on the same power-play unit along with Max Tsyplakov and Noah Dobson, which helped the 29-year-old winger on Opening Night.

"They've been good all camp and had a good game, scored some goals for us," Dobson said. "They're, big part of our team. They give us a lot to jump off of, it's nice to see."

Tsyplakov skated in his first NHL game – andopted not to take a rookie lap, but rather getstraight to business. The Russian winger was fast and physical – leading the team with six hits – and scored his first NHL goal late in the third period.

"He was great, made some really good wall plays and had a lot of poise with the puck," Ryan Pulock said of Tsyplakov. "Obviously, a great shot there on that goal. I think we're going see him continue to grow."

Tysplakov also made history in his Isles debut, logging 20:46 TOI and becoming the first forward in the real-time era to play over 20 minutes in his NHL debut, per Isles statistician Eric Hornick. The Russian winger was fast and physical – leading the team with six hits – and also recorded three shots (two on goal, one missed).

OTHER NOTES

- The Islanders power play went five-for-six, while their penalty kill went 0-for-2.

- JG Pageau went 8-for-13 in the dot

NEXT GAME

The Islanders kick off a three-game road trip with a faceoff against the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. eastern.