Isles squandered two leads in the third period and lost the opening game against Utah in the aftermath

What worked for the Islanders in the preseason stopped working when the puck dropped in the regular season on Thursday night. The tempo was higher with points on the line in the standings, and the Islanders just couldn't seem to hit the passes consistently. They equalized twice in the third period less than a minute after taking the lead.

In one sequence on their power play in the second period, defenseman Noah Dobson turned over a missed shot from an open Mathew Barzal in the left circle. Barzal's back pass then bounced over Dobson's stick and out of the attacking zone, leaving Barzal unfortunate to retreat to the bench.

“Everyone did a lot of good things and we were careless at times,” said coach Patrick Roy.

But part of being a good team is showing resilience, and the Islanders finally started connecting on passes and driving the offense in the final period. Still, they opened the season with a 5-4 overtime loss to Utah – the NHL's newest team to play its first road game – at UBS Arena, with Dylan Guenther scoring the game-winner at 2:18 of overtime.

“I don’t think it was our best,” said Jean-Gabriel Pageau. “We stayed positive. We came back in the third half and showed character.”

Max Tsyplakov, the 26-year-old rookie from Russia's KHL, gave the Islanders a 4-3 lead with a rising wrist shot at 17:53 of the third period. But Josh Doan equalized 13 seconds later.

Pageau's short-handed backhander gave the Islanders a 3-2 lead at 6:51 of the third period. Günther countered 44 seconds later with a power play goal.

“One thing we have to do better: If we have leads, we have to find a way to protect those leads,” Roy said. “We gave them the chance to come back twice in this game.”

Goaltender Semyon Varlamov appeared to be in top form midseason with 21 saves. He kept his teammates in the game long enough.

There were many positive signs in the 4-2-0 preseason, particularly Bo Horvat's top line chemistry with Barzal and new signing Anthony Duclair.

The power play, which ranked 19th in the NHL last season, went 6-for-14 in the last three preseason games. Thursday's game ended disjointed with just seven shots, failing to capitalize on a four-minute lead after defenseman Ian Cole knocked up Anders Lee at 9:22 of the third period. Utah was 2-for-2.

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“It's nice to move the puck, but sometimes you need shots on net,” Roy said. “We did a good job of getting in and moving the puck. But come on, we need to get shots on goal here.”

Horvat made it 2-2 at 1:03 of the third period when Duclair set him up for a one-timer in the slot against Utah (called the Hockey Club for now but expected to be the Yetis next season).

Duclair, who signed a four-year, $14 million contract to join his ninth NHL club in 11 seasons, scored the first goal when Dobson's power-play shot from the blue line came off his skate at 11:10 of the first period bounced off. The goal survived Utah coach Andre Tourigny's challenge that Duclair, who was running across the crease, interfered with goaltender Connor Ingram (21 saves).

“We didn’t get off to a good start,” Duclair said. “I think that was the key. Little sloppy plays. I think we tried to be too cute.”

Ingram, who made a save after Kyle Palmieri looked at an open net on the Islanders' second power play of the first period, stuck out his left toe to parry an open Duclair in the crease at 16:12 of the third period.

Lawson Crouse's power-play one-timer made it 1-1 with 58.4 seconds left in the first period, and Barrett Hayton, who directed defenseman Mikhail Sergachev's point shot, gave Utah a 2-1 lead at 13:07 of the second period Guide.

Notes and quotes: Former Islander Josh Bailey, who stood in his old jersey next to a new blue and orange beacon in the second level concourse, marking the start of the new season for fans, was honored with a tribute video in the first period. . . Striker Julien Gauthier and defenseman Dennis Cholowski were the healthy scratches.

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began covering the NHL in 2003 and previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments included the Jets, St. John's and MLB.