ELMONT, N.Y. — Shortly after Thursday’s season opener, Islanders coach Lane Lambert indicated that forward Oliver Wahlstrom, who did not play that night and missed the final three preseason games, was nursing some sort of unspecified injury. Earlier in the week, Wahlstrom was just as vague, labeling the injury as “more upper body, but it’s getting much better now.”
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Regardless, it’s uncertain whether Wahlstrom would have been in the lineup Saturday had he been healthy enough to play. Kieffer Bellows earned his way onto the third line, taking advantage of Wahlstrom’s absence for the final week and a half of camp, and fourth-liner Nikita Soshnikov filled in for the injured Cal Clutterbuck on the fourth line, presumably because of his penalty-killing prowess.
Wahlstrom made his season debut Saturday on a line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Josh Bailey, though, and it couldn’t have gone much better for him or the team. The forward scored a gorgeous breakaway goal, lifting a backhand over John Gibson in the second period to give the Islanders a 3-0 lead on their way to a 7-1 shellacking of the Ducks at UBS Arena. The win evened their season record at 1-1-0.
There might not be another forward under the microscope more this season than Wahlstrom, the No. 11 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft who had a difficult 2021-22 season but still has the potential to develop into the kind of goal-scoring forward the Islanders desperately need. The 22-year-old has acknowledged that he was often overthinking his struggles last season, which only compounded his problems.
For Wahlstrom, who tends to wear his heart on his sleeve, getting off to a good start could be paramount in terms of building his confidence, thereby allowing him to start reaching the kind of heights everyone seems to believe he can. Saturday’s goal, and his overall performance, was step one.
“Obviously, it’s going to help him a lot,” Lambert said of Wahlstrom getting on the scoresheet with a goal and an assist. “That’s one of his strengths is to be able to score. But I look at the overall game, and the little things — he was very good on the walls getting pucks out, solid defensively. … It was a good night for him.”
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Said Wahlstrom: “I had really good linemates tonight that I talked to a lot. We had fun out there. The chemistry is starting to come.”
Through thick and thin, Wahlstrom has always been enthusiastic about being a part of this Islanders team. Saturday’s performance and the lopsided victory seemed to bring out his bubbly, breezy nature.
“It’s pretty cool being a young guy on this team,” he said. “Just the guys that came through, like (Zdeno Chara), I got to play with him. Zach (Parise), I’ve been watching him, and playing him on video games when I was younger. It’s cool to learn from these guys. We’ve got a really special group in here.”
Wahlstrom’s performance was just one of many strong outings for the Islanders, who shockingly have six goals from their defense so far this season — two each from Noah Dobson, Scott Mayfield and Robin Salo, the latter two of whom each tallied a pair in the win over the Ducks.
Up front, though, Anthony Beauvillier was arguably the best forward Saturday for the Islanders.
Beauvillier is a little further along in his career than Wahlstrom, and nearly three years to the day older, but he’s another player who simply has to have more of an impact this season than he did last season, particularly after general manager Lou Lamoriello didn’t make any summer changes to his top nine.
Frankly, Wahlstrom and Beauvillier might be the two keys to making the longtime general manager look smart in his offseason inactivity. If that pair can blossom, Lamoriello can use the assets and salary-cap space he still has to tweak around the edges or make some sort of headlining midseason acquisition to give the Islanders a boost.
But that’s a discussion for a later date. Saturday, Beauvillier was tenacious all over the ice, winning a battle in his own zone that ended with Mayfield giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead, and later scoring a goal of his own off the rush in the second period, making it a 5-0 game.
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“I thought he was skating. I thought he was on pucks,” Lambert said. “What we did really good tonight is we stayed on the hunt. We didn’t turn away; we were relentless on the puck. He was right up there in that aspect.”
Anders Lee, Beauvillier’s linemate along with Brock Nelson, said: “He was flying around. … Tonight all three of us were close (supporting each other), in on that forecheck and able to turn a couple pucks over and, in turn, get some zone time out of it.”
Beauvillier said he thought he had his legs in the first game but agreed with Lee’s suggestion that their line was more effective against the Ducks.
“We were creating loose pucks and getting pucks where we can actually cycle the puck and build offense from that,” he said. “I felt good on the ice. It was a fun night.”
After Thursday’s 3-1 loss to the Panthers, Lambert spoke about how he was content with the team’s defensive zone structure but wanted to see his players push the pace and play more north-south hockey. Competing against a Ducks team that is still in rebuilding mode, and that also might have been a little jet-lagged from flying across the country to begin an East Coast trip, allowed the Islanders to display this new, more up-tempo, aggressive system while working out some kinks.
“The (defensemen) get the puck up quick, and it’s all about making the right reads and right decisions,” Wahlstrom said. “We did a good job, and everybody was hungry to put the puck in the net tonight.”
Said Lambert: “We moved the puck a little quicker, and we were together as a group. … I thought we transitioned the puck faster.”
Playing fast and pushing the pace is one thing. Being able to capitalize on it is another. If the Islanders are going to do both, that means guys such as Wahlstrom and Beauvillier probably have to be involved.
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That they were able to be involved so early in the season bodes well.
“They’re continuing to instill good habits and continuing to build their games, and that will allow them to grow and give them opportunity out there,” Lee said.
Said Beauvillier: “I feel like we kind of had a down year — a couple guys last year. We definitely want to come in and produce a little bit more and be better for our team and our teammates.”
(Top photo of Oliver Wahlstrom: Jessica Alcheh / USA Today)
