The New York Islanders became the final team to clinch a playoff spot on Wednesday night with their 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. It knocked the Pittsburgh Penguins out of the playoff race, and now set their focus on either the Boston Bruins or the Carolina Hurricanes.
They have an interesting group, with one of the best goalies in the NHL in Ilya Sorokin and a solid defensive core, but a lot left to be desired up front. Does this team have what it takes to pull off an upset against a top seed? Tyler Yaremchuk and Mike McKenna talked about that and more on Daily Faceoff Live.
Mike McKenna: Who knows! For a team that can defend, you always get worried playing against them in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the Islanders have played that spoiler role previously. Of course this year under Lane Lambert, it’s looked a little bit different. The Islanders have struggled to score, that hasn’t been any surprise. Bringing in Horvat, the team started to win more, scoring didn’t go up a whole lot. Basically, the defense is solid and Ilya Sorokin might be the best goaltender in the NHL right now.
I think the Islanders can absolutely be a thorn in somebody’s side. Against the Bruins? I don’t see that one being good because you look at that matchup, the Isles were 0-2-1 against the Bruins this year, they allowed almost five goals a game, that’s very un-Sorokin like.
But here’s the thing. You look at these matchups for tonight’s games, the Panthers are going up against the Hurricanes, and Long Island is going to be rooting hard for the Hurricanes, because they do not, in my eyes, want to see the Panthers get a point, because they don’t want to play the Bruins if you can help it.
I think the Islanders would love to face the Hurricanes or Devils. Now the Hurricanes, they’re 1-3-0 against them the Islanders this year, but you look at the scoring totals, Islanders scored 2.25, Canes only scored 3. In a close matchup like that, I think the Islanders like that, and they were pretty good against the Devils this year, 2-1. I think the Islanders are really going to be watching tonight’s games, especially between the Hurricanes and Panthers to see what happens and who they’re going against, because it matters for them.
Tyler Yaremchuk: It’s one of the many seeding spots up for grabs tonight. Florida taking on the Capitals, if Florida wins, they then leapfrog the Islanders and Florida basically playing tonight to not have to roll into Boston, because I think you’re right. I think that Canes matchup is just a lot easier. They have goalies who’ve struggled to stay healthy the past, you know they’re going to be without Andrei Svechnikov as well. That Canes team does seem ripe for the picking
I don’t hate the Islanders in that matchup at all, so I’m going to agree with you on that, but also, it might not be the Canes, because if Carolina loses their last game and the Devils either win or bring it to OT, they own the tiebreaker. The Devils could actually still slot into that top spot, and then avoid a matchup with the New York Rangers. So much on the line still in the East.
You can watch the full episode here…
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