Tonight we got our answer. Both Pittsburgh and Tampa are swept in their series. What an historic playoff story for the Blue Jackets taking down the Lightning and a very disappointing exit for the Penguins. But hats off to the Islanders for following a Trotz game plan and really stifling the Penguins offense.
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Faster and smarter. Better trained as kids. Taught to play the game at higher speeds than previous generations. Raised on better diets. They have arrived.
The youth of the NHL is scary good and differs greatly than all previous generations. We first saw this fully on display last year during the Vegas Knight's run. This year that same kind of game has expanded to include not only the Golden Knights, but the Islanders, Blue Jackets, Avalanche, Hurricanes, and Maple Leafs as well.....All stocked with 19-23-year-olds who are starting to subtly and quietly take over.
This new wave of hockey player exists everywhere and on every team, but it feels like the teams who are driven by them are the teams "surprising" the old guard...but it honestly shouldn't be such a huge surprise.
The two teams down 3-0 have both been to the Final and even won Stanley Cups before, and last night's total domination by Carolina over the current Cup owning Caps was not just a win, The score of 5-0 doesn't even do justice to the 45-18 shot total......and the Avalanche's 6-2 win over Calgary also felt like a foreshadowing of things to come for a very young and fast Avalanche team.
The reality is the youth of hockey play without pressure and can simply kill you if you aren't careful.
The playoffs are about playing your OWN game and making the other team chase you. Something Tampa has somehow forgotten. The Lightning don't need to match Columbus' physicality, so why do they want to? Tampa is still in this series but they may not know it. Meanwhile, the Penguins are playing right into the Islanders hands by attacking them. The Pens are a skilled team, but better as a counter-attack team. They are playing right into the Isles system and the more they resist the harder it gets to escape.
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