![]() "He understands building a roster," Trotz said of his GM. The Islanders are a team defined by its culture, structure, the buy in to it, and getting just the right players to fit in.Ĭredit to coach Barry Trotz for making it all work, and to GM Lou Lamoriello for targeting the right players - even if it didn't always look shrewd from the outside in the moment. No one player stood out above the others. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, last year's trade pickup, tied Mathew Barzal and Palmieri for the team lead in scoring during Round 2. Travis Zajac scored a big goal in Game 6. Palmieri has been as advertised and leads the team in goals. Despite being known for their defence, New York scored 15 goals in the last three games of that series. The Islanders fell behind in this series, too - trialing 1-0 and then 2-1 - but just as they did against Pittsburgh, New York won the last three games in a row as the Bruins got more bruised and the Islanders' offence heated up. In Round 2 they drew Boston, two teams strong on the forecheck and with a lot of playoff experience. The Islanders dropped Games 2 and 3 but then reeled off three wins in a row to take down the Penguins for the second time in three seasons. Palmieri ended his cold stretch immediately, scoring two goals including the OT winner in Game 1. Right away it began to turn in New York's favour. The Islanders' first-round opponent was Pittsburgh, who had been one of the NHL's best teams since mid-February and they were getting a lot of production out of their trade deadline acquisition Jeff Carter. ![]() They lost their last five regular season games and none of their deadline pickups had started to click - Kyle Palmieri had just two goals in 17 games. But, boy, was there a lot of reason to be pessimistic about them heading into Round 1.įrom the trade deadline to the end of the regular season, New York was 5-6-3 with the second-lowest points percentage of any playoff team down the stretch. They definitely shouldn't be surprising us anymore. The Islanders - well, maybe we should have expected them back here. These two will coach against each other with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final at stake for the third time in four seasons. Tampa actually lost the shot battle in the series but outscored Carolina 14-9 and took the series in a surprisingly fast five games. Again Tampa's biggest names led the way and Vasilevskiy continued his dominance, stopping 94 per cent of the shots Carolina threw at him. Then against Carolina, they met another high-event team that appeared primed to make a post-season breakthrough. Andrei Vasilevskiy had a slow start to the playoffs, recovered, and then was the difference as the Panthers had to go three goalies deep into their roster. The Lightning can play you any which way, though, and countered everything Florida threw at them. In Round 1, they met upstart Florida who challenged the Lightning with a quick-pace, high-event series that was must-see TV. When the playoffs rolled around, Kucherov and Stamkos returned and suddenly the Lightning looked more dangerous than ever. Tampa Bay was able to be a player at the trade deadline, adding David Savard - the top defenceman available - who now anchors their third pair. They were also without Steven Stamkos for the last month of the season and Victor Hedman was playing hurt down the stretch. They did it all without MVP Nikita Kucherov, sidelined for the regular season to injury. ![]() The Lightning had the eighth-most points in the league and were only five off Carolina's division-leading pace. Tampa Bay finished third in a competitive Central Division, but it's not as though they sagged and fell there. Most people probably expected the Lightning back here. Will the Stanley Cup winner come out of this best-of-seven series for the second year in a row, too? For the second season in a row, the Islanders and Lightning meet in Round 3 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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