TORONTO — Seven games into the season, the still-hazy picture of the Islanders that’s starting to peek through the fog is a team that, most nights, needs its defense to compensate for its offense.
There’s some irony in that, given the club has spent the past few years playing a style of hockey that flies in the face of an outdated reputation, earned nearly a decade ago, that they are a defense-first team. Now that perception is finally catching up to reality — thanks Matthew Schaefer! — the Islanders look like they are shifting back to where they used to be.
Thursday night in Ottawa felt instructive, not because it was the first time the Islanders have looked capable of playing a tight-checking, physical game that demands attention to detail, but because they were doing it on the road against a Senators team that, despite some offensive struggles, has played quite well to start the season.
The Islanders lost that game 2-1 in a shootout, but on the defensive side of the puck, there was little to dislike.