The New York Islanders took a 1-0 series lead over the Florida Panthers with a 2-1 win yesterday. A lot went right for the Islanders and here are some notes from the game.
The first line was pretty quiet against the Panthers, combining for just two shots on goal. Mathew Barzal was much less noticeable than to what we expect from him, and while he was still forechecking hard, he really wasn’t carrying the puck much at all. Anders Lee was better than in the exhibition game, battling more in the corners and at the front of the net. That said, he did struggle to make a play the few times he carried the puck. Jordan Eberle, on the other hand, was pretty much invisible.
Luckily, Anthony Beauvillier has looked like a different player in the last two games and was once again the team’s best forward. He scored the game-winning goal, almost had another on a pass from Josh Bailey, set up Brock Nelson for a perfect chance and was everywhere on the ice. Nelson also looked better yesterday, and the second line seems to have developed quite a bit of chemistry.
The bottom-six was clicking as well and once again, I really liked what I saw from Derick Brassard. He’s forechecking harder and is making more thoughtful decisions with the puck, even if his play in the defensive zone still isn't as strong as it could be. Jean-Gabriel Pageau was good too, scoring New York’s first goal, while Tom Kuhnhackl was even a factor as well, forechecking hard to create the turnover which led to New York’s first goal, then saving a goal when Semyon Varlamov lost the puck behind the net. The fourth line was a bit less noticeable than in the exhibition game, aside from Cal Clutterbuck, who was blocking a bunch of shots for the Islanders.
On the back end, Adam Pelech did a really good job taking the man and not the puck, keeping Florida’s forwards to the outside and not letting them get to second chances. Devon Toews was also quite good defensively, breaking up a few passes, while Scott Mayfield and Ryan Pulock were decent as well. Nick Leddy skating with the puck and setting up some good chances, and Johnny Boychuk battled hard after receiving a couple big hits. In net, Semyon Varlamov was also good and despite not facing many difficult chances early in the game, he stepped up later on when he needed to.
The Islanders were the better team in Game 1, getting the better chances and sticking to their game. It was a big win for New York and hopefully they can keep the momentum going into Game 2 on Tuesday.
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Here's today's poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Was Anthony Beauvillier New York's best player in Game 1?
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