Coming off a 2-1 win on Saturday, the New York Islanders will be back in action against the Florida Panthers today, as they attempt to extend their qualifying series lead to 2-0. The Islanders were successful at limiting Florida's scoring chances in Game 1 and hopefully they’re able to continue to keep shots to the outside in Game 2.
Offensively, I’d like to see more out of the top line, as it was the second line that produced the majority of New York’s best chances on Saturday. Here’s the shots for percentage for each forward in New York’s top-six from Game 1 (according to NaturalStatTrick.com):
Mathew Barzal: 42.9% (6-8)
Anders Lee: 41.7% (5-7)
Jordan Eberle: 38.5% (5-8)
If the first line is able to get going the same way the second line has played in the two games since the break, it would be a major boost to the Islanders’ offense.
The lineups should look fairly similar, though it’s unclear whether Johnny Boychuk will be available for Game 2. He didn’t finish Game 1 after taking a hard hit and if he’s not able to play, we can expect Andy Greene to suit up.
Puck drop is at noon.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Which forward on the first line needs to perform better in Game 2?
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