NEW YORK _ The goaltending was suspect at times, their defensive structure broke down at crucial moments and passing the puck out of their own zone seemed too tough a task for the first half of the game.
Yet the Islanders nearly overcame these shortcomings in their home opener before losing 4-3 to the Predators before a crowd of 12,163 at Barclays Center on Saturday night.
So, glass half full? Or half empty?
That the Islanders, who host the Sharks on Monday afternoon in Brooklyn before starting a four-game Western Conference swing next Saturday at Nashville, were within striking distance of the Predators was a testament to their physicality, their compete level over the final two periods and 1-for-4 power play, which generated nine shots.
But the Predators won because they were able to exploit holes in the Islanders' defense and in goalie Thomas Greiss' game.
Greiss made 19 saves while Juuse Saros stopped 26 shots for the Predators. It seems likely ex-Sabre Robin Lehner, who signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal this offseason, will make his Islanders' debut against the Sharks.
The Islanders certainly had chances to tie the game, including Saros turning aside Jordan Eberle from right in front of the net at 15:41 of the third period.
Saros had to be at his best over the final two periods, as the Islanders held a 22-11 shot advantage in the final 40 minutes.
That included a frantic final 1:51 of regulation with Greiss off the ice for an extra skater in which the Predators iced the puck four times and defenseman Ryan Pulock could not get one of his blue-line slap shots on net.
Greiss had a strong start to the season with 45 saves in Thursday night's 2-1 overtime win at Carolina. But, facing more odd-man rushes and looking less sharp, he struggled early against the Predators.
Viktor Arvidsson gave Nashville a 1-0 lead at 3:42 of the first period with a brilliant individual move, pulling the puck between his legs and then around Pulock before getting to the net to beat Greiss.
Mattias Ekholm regained a 2-1 lead for the Predators at 16:56 of the first period, beating Greiss over his glove from the left circle with an unscreened wrist shot the goalie should have stopped.
Greiss also could have made a save on Craig Smith's shot from the slot to give the Predators a 3-2 lead at 13:30 of the second period.
Then again, Greiss is coming off an inconsistent performance last season as he went 13-8-2 with a 3.82 goals-against average and an .892 save percentage.
Arvidsson extended the Predators lead to 4-2 at 16:42 of the second period as Ryan Johansen skated around defenseman Thomas Hickey and fed the puck toward the crease.
Mathew Barzal had tied the game 1-1 at 12:01 of the first period on a video reviewed goal as Josh Bailey stripped Predators defenseman P.K. Subban of the puck and fed Barzal for a one-timer cutting to the crease.
Valterri Filppula, 34, who signed a one-year, $2.75 million deal in a large part to bolster the Islanders' NHL-worst penalty kill, tied the game at 2-2 at 2:46 of the second period with his second goal in two games with his new team. He deflected in Tanner Frtiz's deflection of defenseman Luca Sbisa's blue-line wrist shot.
Newly-named Islanders captain Anders Lee made it 4-3 with 28.8 seconds left in the second period with his power-play goal as he knocked in his own rebound at the crease.
