The New York Islanders took a 1-0 lead in their first round series against the Washington Capitals, winning Game 1 yesterday by a score of 4-2.
The Islanders started the game by taking penalty after penalty and played the majority of the first half of the period shorthanded. After that, however, the Islanders stuck to their game and were the better team in the final two periods, despite giving up two goals in the second period.
A huge factor for the Islanders was that the top two lines were actually the two best lines. The first line had a corsi for percentage of 70.6 per cent (12-5) and created eight scoring chances, giving up just two chances against in the process. This was Anders Lee’s best game and I’m not just saying that based on his goal. He was battling hard to get control of the puck or at least get it to a teammate and was way more engaged. The second line continued to be very effective as well and had a corsi for percentage of 90.9 per cent (10-1).
Here are the shots for percentages (5-on-5) from each player in the top-six:
While the top-six was great and the third line held their own, the fourth line had a rough game. They didn’t have a shot attempt at 5-on-5 (0-9) and spent the majority of their time on the ice in their own end. Casey Cizikas got a good chance shorthanded but as a line, they had a hard time getting anything going.
New York’s defense, on the other hand, was great. I thought every pairing had a good game and gave up a pretty reasonable number of chances. Even the two goals the Islanders allowed weren’t really great scoring chances. Overall, it was a very good game from New York’s defense.
In net, Semyon Varlamov has been consistent and had another good game. Washington’s first goal was a bad bounce and you could argue the second goal was weak, but he did make a few stops before losing track of the puck. If there was one weak point in his game, we can all agree it was his puck tracking. That said, he made some good saves and if New York can consistently get that level of goaltending from Varlamov, they can’t really complain.
Game 1 was a big win for the Islanders and we have to be happy with that performance. They capitalized on their chances while keeping Washington’s opportunities to a minimum and New York’s best players really were their best players.
*All stats from NaturalStatTrick.com
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Who was New York's best top-six forward in Game 1?
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