The Islanders are playing faster than you're used to so far this season

The Islanders’ season has gotten off to a fast start.

Wins in the first two games – the first time the Islanders have done that since 2014-15 – came against the speedy Sabres and Coyotes. The lightning-quick Devils were at UBS Arena on Friday night and the Islanders face a rematch with the Sabres on Saturday night in Buffalo.

“It’s a great test early in the year,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “We’re playing some really quick teams that are known for their speed. Hopefully we can continue to build. We’ve played decently fast early on. We just have to continue to work on that.”

But even if the Islanders have been known more for their goaltending and defensive structure under president/general manager Lou Lamoriello, they, too, can display on-ice speed.

There is a difference between just skating fast and a team playing fast.

“Quick puck movement,” center Mathew Barzal said when asked to describe what makes a team fast. “Skating. Forechecking. I’d say quick puck movement is the biggest thing. Moving the puck around is playing fast.”

And the ability to move the puck from stick to stick swiftly comes down to decision making. Thinking the game quickly.

“Yeah, that’s really what it is,” said Barzal, one of the slicker skaters in the NHL with his ability to start and stop and turn instantly. “Just being able to know what’s coming next. Before you get the puck knowing what you’re going to do with it. That’s kind of playing fast in my mind.”

Barzal and left wing Pierre Engvall are likely the Islanders’ fastest skaters. Forward Julien Gauthier, a healthy scratch for the first three games, also would be included in that group.

Defensively, Dobson, Sebastian Aho and Alexander Romanov all can transport the puck up ice with speed when they’re at their best.

“I think we handled ourselves really well the first two games,” center Bo Horvat said. “I think we have a lot of fast players. Barzy is really fast. Gauthier, when he gets in the lineup, he’s one of the quickest guys I think I’ve seen or played with. We definitely don’t have slow guys in here. I like to think that I show my speed every once in a while.

“I think when we play fast and transition quick, it makes us look fast. The times we rim pucks or hold onto it and try to come back and swing, I think it makes us look slow. I think the first two games we did a good job of moving it quick.”

Barzal, too, was asked how he thought the Islanders ranked among NHL teams in terms of team speed.

“We tend to describe fast as chip it in and forecheck,” Barzal said. “Other teams will consider playing fast bringing the puck back and coming with speed underneath. So I guess there’s different ways to do it. I don’t know where we rank. I don’t know, middle of the pack-ish?

“When we have it going, we can play as fast as anybody.”

But center Brock Nelson said there also are times when speed kills, as counterintuitive as that might sound.

“You always want to play fast and with speed and dictate,” Nelson said. “But then I think there are times, too, where you want to be fast but also not in a hurry. Which is a funny thing to say.

“You have your structure and if you’re predictable to one another and making clean plays, simple plays, reading up on one another and being able to get timing with positionally things dialed it, it can look even faster than actual numbers.”

It’s just as key for the Islanders to limit the opponent’s scoring chances as it is playing fast. They beat the Coyotes 1-0 on Tuesday by holding them to 14 shots on goalie Ilya Sorokin and outchancing them, 59-34.

That’s about quickly getting to the correct positions defensively and not allowing the fast skaters much room to use their speed.

“[The Devils] are one of the fastest teams,” Barzal said. “The trick is trying to limit their top guys and stay out of the penalty box. They move the puck fast so we’ve just got to limit their chances.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.