It’s early and all that, but the Islanders really need a win — hell, even an extra-time loss — to avoid all the terrible associations that would come with an 0-4 start. Buffalo and San Jose are the only other winless teams thus far, and that’s not great company to keep.
Worse, their opponent on Thursday is the on-a-mission, back-to-back runner-up Oilers, who have yet to lose in regulation. If Matthew Schaefer, Bossy love him already, continues to be their TOI leader then that will mean a lot of time against two of the best hockey players in the world.
Thursday would be a good time for Ilya Sorokin to stand on his head for 60 minutes.