The New York Islanders have the opportunity to sweep the Washington Capitals tonight and in doing so, would book their ticket to the second round of the playoffs.
New York is coming off a huge overtime win in Game 3 on Sunday. The Islanders have been the better team in every game of the series so far and in my opinion, there would need to be a drastic shift for Washington to get back into the series. The Capitals aren’t getting the chances and even when they do, they haven’t been able to figure out how to beat Semyon Varlamov.
I’ve also been really impressed by New York’s defense group. They’ve all been really strong all series and I don’t think I have a major criticism for any one of them. I do want to see a bit better of a performance from the second line tonight. After a hot start, the line has cooled off a bit in the last two games and though they’ve certainly earned a bit of leeway, it would be good to see them get back into their groove.
As for lineups, I’d expect New York’s to be the same once again. For Washington, the major piece of news is that Nicklas Backstrom is a game-time decision.
This is a huge opportunity for the Islanders and they can’t let the Capitals back in the series. If they can stick to their game plan and get another solid team effort, the Islanders will end this tonight.
Puck drop is at 8 p.m.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Is this the best hockey the Islanders have played all season?
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