The Blue Jackets headed to Long Island on Sunday for their first matchup with the New York Islanders this season. After a really slow start, they scratched their way back into it; but unfortunately finished the game the way they started.
The Islanders came out flying. Right from the opening faceoff, they were quicker to every puck and creating offense seemingly at will. Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made several saves early, but was unable to stop them all.
The Islanders broke the ice at 5:53 of the period. Just 10 seconds into their first power-play, rookie phenom Matthew Schaefer fired a shot through traffic that eluded Merzlikins to make it a 1-0 game.