Islanders encouraged after a strong third period in season-opening loss to Maple Leafs

TORONTO — If/when the Islanders start to play much more seamlessly in Pete DeBoer’s system — remember, the coach has said it may take until Thanksgiving or Christmas for the players to fully grasp what he’s implementing — this one will seem like a distant memory.

A line in the results in an 84-game season.

An inconsistent start to better times ahead, albeit one with an encouraging sign of resilience in a strong third period of a season-opening 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

“I really liked our mentality,” said Emil Heineman, who halved the deficit with a shorthanded goal off Bo Horvat’s feed at 14:09 of the third period. “We came out the way we wanted. We gave them a little bit too much in the second half of the first [period] and there were some turnovers that were killing our momentum.”

But until their play becomes more seamless, there were a few things of concern in the season’s first defeat. Mainly because they felt so familiar to last season, when the Islanders missed the playoffs for a second straight year.

“As the game went on, we definitely got a little bit better,” said defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who played a game-high 27:45. “I don’t think that was our best. We definitely have better for sure. Get the first one out of the way and just keep going.”

The structure in the defensive zone was not tight enough and turnovers caused issues.

“There was some stuff that we want to tighten up in our zone,” Heineman said. “They still had too many chances down low in front and on the inside in the slot.”

The power play that ranked 30th last season did not produce in four chances, generating just two shots. That alone is not cause for a case of bad déjà vu, but struggling with offensive-zone entries or not being able to keep the puck up ice with a man advantage — as was the case on their first two tries — is of note.

Their third power play in the third period was their most dangerous.

“Work in progress,” DeBoer said. “Both special teams. You’d like both our special teams to be the difference in the game.’

The lineup will look different once top-six forward Mathew Barzal (left knee) is able to rejoin the lineup. General manager Mathieu Darche is hopeful Barzal, who missed all of training camp with inflammation, can resume skating this weekend or early next week.

“We’ve just got to play down low,” Schaefer said of improving offensively. “We definitely had some chances, for sure. But, at the end of the day, when they’re going in the back of the net, it feels good. It wasn’t a bad game.”

Casey Cizikas’ fourth line with Ondrej Palat and Anthony Duclair was the Islanders’ most consistent in applying pressure and playing with the puck in the Maple Leafs’ zone — which also stands as an indictment against the team’s top lines — until DeBoer elevated Duclair to Cal Ritchie’s second line late in the second period in place of Matias Maccelli. The ex-Maple Leaf was signed as a free agent to bolster production both five-on-five and on the power play.

“[Duclair] had good legs tonight,” said DeBoer, with Duclair matching Horvat and Kyle Palmieri with a team-high four shots. “I wanted to reward him.”

Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves for the Islanders, who open their home schedule on Saturday night against the Devils. Anthony Stolarz stopped 26 shots for the Maple Leafs. That included stretching his right pad while on the ice to deny Duclair at the crease at 6:38 of the third period.

The Islanders struggled through a 1-3-0 preseason without ever dressing their full NHL squad together. Perhaps that could account for some of the on-ice hiccups.

But the truth is the Islanders started strong, keeping the Maple Leafs in their zone for a good portion of the match’s first seven minutes.

“For me, that was the best game we’ve played structurally so far,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “We just have to build on that.”

Yet defenseman Tony DeAngelo’s turnover turned into fourth-liner Colton Sissons’ tip-in on the Maple Leafs’ second shot at 7:14 of the first period as he got his stick around 6-7 defenseman Logan Stanley.

Then the Maple Leafs scored with six seconds left on their first power play as defenseman Morgan Rielly made a skilled play at the blue line to knock down Pulock’s clearing attempt, leading to Easton Cowan connecting with a wrist shot at 11:55 of the first period.

“We came back, we battled the entire 60 minutes,” DeBoer said. “There’s lots of things to work on, lots of things I liked.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.