Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak out for Brooklyn opener

Jonathan Toews scored on a power play at 1:49 of overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the New York on Friday night, spoiling the Islanders’ debut in Brooklyn.

“With 80 percent of our patrons taking a subway, you’d think they’d get the connection”, Mangione said.

Each fan will receive a magnetic Islanders schedule when entering the arena, and a commemorative opening night poster when they depart. “But certainly jealous watching them go through that”.

“Everything was really similar, as much as it could be”.

The Islanders will carry three goaltenders into their opener, with newly claimed Jean-Francois Berube backing up Thomas Greiss if Halak is unable to go.

Barclays Center hosts an extensive variety of events, including premier concerts, major professional boxing cards, top college basketball, family shows, the Brooklyn Nets and, starting this season, the New York Islanders.

The fans cheered loudly when they saw the Coliseum in the video. It was where Islanders’ hockey was born and where all the great memories in franchise history were created. “They’re the Stanley Cup champs for a reason”.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with the New York Islanders and Barclays Center to bring the game of street hockey to kids throughout Brooklyn”, said Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation. So far, the Islanders have every reason to feel right at home. “There’s not a lot of distractions when you come here so you can just focus on the game”. They formed a circle around the center-ice logo, the one depicting Long Island, the one that has never changed and never should. Alexa Ray Joel, daughter of Long Island native and music legend Billy Joel and supermodel Christie Brinkley, performed the national anthem before the game. The ceremonial first puck drop was then held with dynasty members Mike Bossy, Bobby Nystrom, Billy Smith and Bryan Trottier joining several politicians as well as Islanders owner Charles Wang, ownership partners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin at center ice.Ledecky and Malkin will take over majority ownership next season.The Blackhawks scored the first goal in the new building when a turnover by Islanders center Brock Nelson led directly to Anisimov’s short-handed goal with 6:32 left in the first period.

Finally, after the pomp and circumstance, the Brooklyn era officially began with so many sounds from the Coliseum days, including the organ, the public address announcer, the chants, and eventually, the goal horn.

“Our group always understood this change was a lot better than a Kansas City or a Quebec move”, said Blue and Orange member James Fess.

Now the young talent is maturing, and the strong free-agent and trade acquisitions made prior to last season have had an entire year of cohesion. An ugly defensive start to the game cost the team, which got goals from Artemi Panarin and Teuvo Teravainen but couldn’t capitalize on a few chances late in the third period to tie things up. That’s all that matters. The Ice Girls didn’t make it.

That’s all Tavares and the Islanders are trying to do for their fans, who are now a commuting crowd instead of a tailgating crowd.

“The more you skate out there the more comfortable you get with your surroundings, the lighting and the boards”, Tavares said. “I expect those guys to play harder”. “You want to play. The people here have embraced that well”. The players know they’ll need to get off to a strong start at home again, both for their playoff aspirations and to court new fans in Brooklyn.