Islanders Playoff Preview

The Islanders punched their ticket into the Stanley Cup Playoffs beating the New Jersey Devils in game 81 of the regular season, though they have had their ups and downs throughout this season, the Islanders definitely belong here, they captured the 3rd spot in the Metropolitan Division and will have a rematch from last year against the Carolina Hurricanes

Behind the Bench

Midseason, the Islanders shocked the hockey world when they fired Lane Lambert and replaced him with Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy. Roy has brought a similar style of play that the Islanders had under Barry Trotz, he has the Islanders playing playoff style hockey and won’t hesitate for someone to take a shift or even a game off, as we’ve seen him put players like Simon Holmstrom in the press box. Last season, Hurricanes Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour ran laps around Lambert in the first round, Patrick Roy has the opportunity for his team to not only outplay his opponent, but out coach as well.

Coming into this series, the Islanders are more put together than they were last year. Last year they came into this series with top players not playing their best hockey, or returning from injury. This time around, we have a full season of Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat in the books, as well as very good seasons from Brock Nelson, Kyle Palmieri. Not to mention the huge breakout of Noah Dobson on the Blue line. The Islanders are a dangerous team, and their toughest test will be their first opponent.

A Change in Net

Ilya Sorokin has had a very up and down year, and hasn’t been very consistent when the team needs him. Semyon Varlamov on the other hand stepped up in a big way, the Islanders aren’t here without him. I’m interested to see how they deploy goaltenders in this series, but we know Varlamov is in net for Game 1.

Key to Success

The Islanders key to success is special teams. They need to score on Power Plays and try to stay out of the penalty box to have a shot in this series, the Islanders Penalty Killing has been better of late, but still ranks among the worst in the NHL.

Islanders Projected Lines:

Cizikas-Horvat-Barzal

Holmstrom-Nelson-Palmieri

Lee-Pageau*-Engvall

Martin-MacLean-Clutterbuck

Romanov-Dobson

Pelech-Pulock

Reilly-Bortuzzo

Varlamov

*=Questionable with injury

Other News:

Hurricanes Forward Jasper Fast will not play in Game 1, not likely to play until he has at least a practice under his belt, per Brind’Amour