Through two games, Matthew Schaefer is blowing every reasonable expectation out of the water.

The Islanders, however, can only wish they could say the same.

As much as the pregame presentation at Saturday’s home opener felt like the herald of a new era, one the Islanders have been advertising for nearly five months, the team proceeded to go splat over the first 40 minutes against the Capitals, dooming themselves to an 0-2 start to the season.

A new era, it turns out, does not reach its apex in five months. The Islanders’ 4-2 loss to the Capitals on Saturday night at UBS Arena showed that, no matter how sleek the marketing has been, there is still plenty of work to do before the on-ice product catches up.

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Logan Thompson makes a save against Anthony Duclair (during the second period of the Islanders’ 4-3 loss to the Capitals in their home opener.Brad Penner-Imagn Images
“They had a really good forecheck. They took away our options,” Bo Horvat said. “As soon as we started breaking pucks out, we were fine. It was just, we’re getting hemmed in our own end and not being able to break out pucks killed our momentum.”

Schaefer scored his first NHL goal in the third period, led the Islanders in time on ice with nearly 26 minutes and had coach Patrick Roy positively gushing about his performance afterward. While the rookie gave everyone enough to feel good about, the reality is that his team looks far from where it needs to be right now.

The Islanders couldn’t break out, repeatedly got beaten on the walls and had too much east/west in their game. The second pair of Alexander Romanov and Tony DeAngelo was caved in all night, with Romanov on the ice for three goals against at even strength and DeAngelo for two, including one after his careless turnover gave Aliaksei Protas a one-on-zero break for a 4-0 Washington lead at 15:30 of the second.

That marked a milestone for the year: the first time the Islanders were booed at home.

John Carlson (74) checks Bo Horvat as Alexander Ovechin (left) looks for the puck during the first period of the Islanders’ loss to the Capitals.Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
“I thought they had their ups and downs overall,” Roy said of the pair. “There was some good moments. There was moments that was a little tougher.”

Ilya Sorokin, too, has had a suspect first two games. Though there was not much help in front of the netminder on Saturday, his rebound control was poor and he twice failed to stop Protas without any traffic in front — both tough shots, to be sure, but the kind Sorokin is paid to stop.

The Islanders ceded a goal just 1:50 in after Sorokin failed to control Alex Ovechkin’s rebound, allowing Martin Fehérváry to pounce for a 1-0 Washington lead. Protas would double it at the 13:52 mark, capitalizing on Simon Holmstrom’s turnover on the wall while exiting the zone to rip one in from the slot.

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Matthew Schaefer (48 ) celebrates his first NHL goal with Anthony Duclair (11) and Mathew Barzal (13) during the third period of the Islanders’ loss to the Capitals in their home opener.NHLI via Getty Images
“It should be a bit better in this moment,” Sorokin, who stopped 24 of 28 shots, told The Post of his rebound control. “Should work [on it] next practice.”

While the Islanders did kill off a penalty after a phantom tripping call on Kyle Palmieri, Ryan Leonard made it 3-0 before Palmieri could even rejoin the play with a shot that ricocheted off Scott Mayfield and in at the 9:50 mark of the second.

By the time Anthony Duclair — one of few Islanders, along with Schaefer and Max Shabanov, who had an encouraging night — scored on the power play to make it 4-1 late in the second, the game already felt all but over.

The Islanders got some energy in the form of Schaefer’s goal — also on the power play — early in the third, and played much better in the final 20 minutes than in the first 40. Schaefer looked every bit a superstar in the making all night, and Roy did not hold back in praising him.

Kyle Palmieri skates with the puck as Tom Wilson defends during the first period of the Islanders’ loss to the Capitals.Brad Penner-Imagn Images

On the ice from Long Island

“How [can you] not love a guy playing the way he’s playing right now?” Roy asked, rhetorically. “He’s playing with passion. He’s playing hard. So he’s exciting to watch.”

If Schaefer vindicated all the hopefulness surrounding him in recent months, though, the Islanders have so far failed in achieving just that.

There is still a considerable distance between these Islanders and the Capitals, who won the Metropolitan Division a year ago.

This is a work in progress, and two games into the season, there might be more work to do than the Islanders thought.