Flames spoil Islanders' first game at new arena

ELMONT, N.Y. --The New York Islanders lost their first game at UBS Arena, 5-2 to the Calgary Flames on Saturday.

Andrew Mangiapane scored twice on the power play, and Jacob Markstrom made 34 saves for the Flames (10-3-5), who extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2). Noah Hanifin had three assists.
"It was a great atmosphere, it was pretty cool to kind of play in," Mangiapane said. "You could just feel the energy just as soon as you kind of went out there the first time. Even before warmups, you saw all the fans. It was fun to play in, and I think we just kind of almost fed off that energy."
Brock Nelson scored two goals for the Islanders (5-7-2), who lost their fifth straight game and were without forwards Josh Bailey, Anders Lee, Anthony Beauvillier and Ross Johnston, and defensemen Adam Pelech and Andy Greene because of COVID-19 protocol. Beauvillier, Pelech and Greene were added to the list before the game.

Semyon Varlamov made 26 saves for New York.
"I'm really disappointed," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "You think about the Anders Lee and the Josh Baileys and the Pelechs and the Pulocks and all the guys that are out. … I sent them a little text because they were the ones who put in a lot of the blood, sweat and tears in keeping this team competitive.
"… It was a little bit of a messy 24 hours because of the COVID thing, and we were getting a couple last night, today before the game."
Brad Richardson gave the Flames a 1-0 lead at 4:05 of the first period with a wrist shot from between the circles after a turnover by Islanders forward Matt Martin.
Mangiapane made it 2-0 at 13:18 of the first, redirecting Hanifin's shot from the point.
"The first 10 minutes, some of the guys were a little bit paralyzed and over-amped up," Trotz said. "It showed in our first two goals. Those first two goals, we didn't move our feet, we were just sort of paralyzed."
Nelson scored with a one-timer off a pass from Richard Panik on the power play to cut it to 2-1 with 23 seconds left in the first. The goal was initially waved off but was awarded after a video review determined Nelson's shot hit the camera in the back of the net.

Calgary restored the two-goal lead on Mangiapane's second of the game, another redirection of Hanifin's shot from the left point at 6:43 of the second period to make it 3-1.
"We just kept rolling lines, trying to keep our centermen low as much as possible," Flames coach Darryl Sutter said. " … It's a process for our team in terms of learning how to play really hard, physical games, and it shows up."
Mangiapane is tied for second in the NHL with 14 goals, 13 of which have come on the road. Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl leads the League with 18.
Calgary concludes a seven-game road trip (3-1-2) at the Boston Bruins on Sunday.
"I'm playing with good players (Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund). They're finding me the puck right now," Mangiapane said. "I'm just happening to put them home. … I think we played a solid game tonight, and we're going to need more of that tomorrow."
Nelson scored his second of the game at 1:49 of the third period on a one-timer in front to make it 3-2.
He was then denied a hat trick and the chance to tie it when Markstrom made a pad save on his wrist shot with 3:40 remaining. Grant Hutton, who was making his NHL debut, shot wide on the rebound.

Trevor Lewis (18:45) and Johnny Gaudreau (19:22) each scored an empty-net goal for the 5-2 final.
"Obviously, not the result that we wanted," Nelson said. "(We wanted) to come out in the home opener and get a win, do it for the fans and all the guys that were missing, all the guys that stepped up to fill some holes.
"A little bit of adversity for us right now, but I thought we played a pretty good game, gave ourselves a chance to win. 'Varly' played great and we had some momentum there down one. We just couldn't get that one to tie it and flip it for us."
NOTES: The attendance was 17,255. … It was the first game between the teams since Feb. 19, 2019. … Islanders defensemen Robin Salo (four blocks in 21:42) and Hutton (three blocks in 13:43) each made his NHL debut. Forward Andy Andreoff (one hit in 10:19) and Panik (one assist, three hits in 14:42) made their season debut after being recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League. … Flames defenseman Chris Tanev was plus-3 in 20:24.