With the regular season drawing to a close, we can turn our focus to the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the New York Islanders will face the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.
It’s a #1 vs. #4 matchup on paper within the East Division, with the Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals set to face off in the #2 vs. #3 matchup. New York and Pittsburgh do have some recent playoff history, with the Islanders sweeping the Penguins in the first round of the 2019 playoffs, Pittsburgh’s most recent official playoff appearance.
This year, however, matchups against the Penguins haven’t gone well for the Islanders. New York won just two of eight games against Pittsburgh this season, with the most recent games coming at the end of March and the Penguins winning both meetings of the two-game series.
The Islanders allowed 25 goals over those eight games, an average of 3.13 goals against per game, which was significantly higher than the 2.23 goals against per game they allowed overall this season. That said, at least part of this can be attributed to a single game – a 6-3 loss at the end of March.
One bright spot against the Penguins though was New York’s power play. While the Islanders have struggled to be dangerous on the man advantage over the last few years, they scored seven goals on 20 opportunities against Pittsburgh this year, operating at 35 per cent.
Most of the games were also close, with two of the Islanders' losses coming in overtime and New York actually outshooting Pittsburgh pretty badly in two of their losses. Additionally, the Islanders averaged over 2.5 shots per game more than the Penguins did during the season series.
Despite those numbers, Pittsburgh's offense has been deadly this season. The Penguins averaged the most goals per game of any team in the league this year and with Evgeni Malkin back in the lineup as well, shutting down the Penguins' top forwards will be a difficult task.
On paper, the Penguins did have the Islanders’ number this year but I think this is certainly a series that could go either way. The key for the Islanders is whether they can truly snap out of their slump. New York has struggled down the stretch and a huge reason for that is their lack of scoring. If the Islanders can figure things out, they’ll be a very dangerous team. If not, they may face an early exit from the postseason.
Over the coming days while we wait for the series to begin, I’ll be releasing a few more preview articles, comparing how the teams' lineups stack up against one another.
***We've launched a HockeyBuzz Islanders Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow @HB_Islanders for updates on articles, Islanders news, etc.***
Do you think the Islanders will beat the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs?
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