The New York Islanders need just one more win to advance, as they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead.
Oskar Lindblom took warmups for the Flyers and though he didn’t play, it was awesome to see. In terms of lineup changes, the biggest surprises came in net, where both teams changed their starter, with Thomas Greiss starting for the Islanders and the Flyers going with Brian Elliott.
The Islanders came out fairly strong in first period and got some great chances on a power play at the end of the frame but they couldn’t beat Elliott. In the second period, however, New York was badly outplayed and were outshot 17-3. The Islanders managed to capitalize on their chances though, with Brock Nelson opening the scoring on a turnover. The Flyers would tie the game on a point shot before the end of the second period but realistically, Philadelphia probably should’ve had a lead. Greiss had to make some huge saves to keep the game tied and was a difference-maker.
The Islanders came out better after the intermission and the game really opened up in the third period, with both teams getting some great chances. The Islanders took the lead when Scott Mayfield sprung Jean-Gabriel Pageau on a breakaway with a great pass and Pageau was able to tuck it under Elliott. Then, New York increased their lead on a great play from the second line, when Anthony Beauvillier kicked the puck up to Nelson for a 2-on-1, who gave it to Josh Bailey, before eventually Nelson tapped in his second goal of the game on a cross-crease pass. The Flyers got to within a goal in the dying minutes on a point shot with their goalie pulled but that’s as close as they came.
Thomas Greiss stole the show for the Islanders and made some excellent saves and I think without him, New York probably doesn’t win this game. I will say that one thing I noted about Greiss in his player profile after the regular season was that he seems to have an especially hard time tracking any deflections on a shot from the point. This was once again the case in Game 4, as both goals were point shots that were deflected. It was still an excellent game from Greiss but it seems like that pattern is continuing and it could be something to watch for if he ends up starting the coming games.
So now the question is do you go back to Greiss for Game 5? While I didn’t necessarily think it was the right call to start him in the first place, it obviously worked out well and I think now he has to start tomorrow, based on the way he played in Game 4.
Time will tell, but for now, this was a huge win for the Islanders. One more win and they’re through to the next round.
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