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Every article, I try to include a poll question for readers to vote on, then review the results from the week’s polls in a future article. While these polls are related to New York’s series against Florida, I think the majority of the results are still applicable.
Also, here’s the schedule for New York’s series against Washington:
Here are last week’s poll results:
QUESTION: Which forward on the first line needs to perform better in Game 2?
(Votes: 42)
All three: 60%
Anders Lee: 17%
Jordan Eberle: 12%
Mathew Barzal: 7%
They all performed fine in Game 1: 5%
Even though this was for Game 2, I think it’s still fairly applicable. The first line didn’t have an overly strong series and while Mathew Barzal was able to return to form by Game 4 and Jordan Eberle was good at times, to me, all three need to be better consistently.
QUESTION: Which depth forward has impressed you the most so far?
(Votes: 87)
Tom Kuhnhackl: 66%
Matt Martin: 14%
Cal Clutterbuck: 13%
Casey Cizikas: 8%
I have to agree with this, which makes it even worse that Kuhnhackl was taken out of the lineup for Leo Komarov. He was gelling well with the third line and I’m still hopeful we see him back with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Derick Brassard in the first round, rather than Leo Komarov.
QUESTION: Thoughts on Semyon Varlamov’s performance in the first two games of the series?
(Votes: 27)
Met expectations: 63%
Surpassed expectations: 33%
Didn’t meet expectations: 4%
I certainly think Varlamov at least met expectations in the first two games against Florida, as well as the series as a whole. He had a .932 save percentage in the series and allowed just seven goals in four games.
QUESTION: Who has been New York’s best defenseman so far?
(Votes: 37)
Ryan Pulock: 46%
Adam Pelech: 27%
Devon Toews: 16%
Scott Mayfield: 5%
Andy Greene: 3%
Nick Leddy: 3%
No argument here from me. I’m a big fan of Pulock and he hasn’t disappointed so far in the playoffs. The top pairing was solid in the qualifying round against tough competition and did a good job of keeping shots to the outside, as well as battling Florida's forwards to buy Varlamov some time to cover rebounds.
QUESTION: Do you think Game 4 was New York’s best of the qualifying round?
(Votes: 68)
Yes: 96%
No: 4%
The Islanders were great in Game 4 and I thought it was certainly their most dominant game of the series. The Islanders not only outshot the Panthers badly, they also completely outchanced them and were the better team in just about every aspect of the game.
QUESTION: Do you think the Capitals are a good matchup for the Islanders?
(Votes: 96)
Yes: 84%
No: 16%
I was surprised to see such a majority happy with the matchup here, though I do agree. The Islanders and Capitals split their four regular season games this year and I think it'll be a close series.
***NOTE: We've launched a HockeyBuzz Islanders Twitter account! For anyone interested, you can follow
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OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM AUGUST
Game 1 Preview: Islanders vs. Panthers
Notes from Game 1 vs. Panthers
Reviewing last week's polls (August 3): Islanders Edition
Game 2 Preview: Islanders vs. Panthers
Notes from Game 2 vs. Panthers
Game 3 Preview: Islanders vs. Panthers
Notes from Game 3 vs. Panthers
Game 4 Preview: Islanders vs. Panthers
Islanders advance: Notes from Game 4 vs. Panthers
Islanders will face Capitals in first round 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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