The current NHL playoffs are putting on a great show, especially in the West.
As for the East, it’s a little less tight, although the caliber of play is very good.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals and New York Islanders all face elimination.
The Capitals are the only team without a win heading into today’s game, when they face the mighty New York Rangers.
The Islanders, meanwhile, have the tough task of facing the Carolina Hurricanes.
Rod Brind’Amour’s team won the first three games of the series.
In Saturday’s Game #4, Patrick Roy’s team managed to avoid elimination and the sweep.
Although they still have a lot of work to do to get through to the next round, Roy has plenty of confidence in his club.
In this interview, Roy made a point of mentioning that his club has always felt ready to climb the arduous slope of eliminating the mighty Hurricanes.
Only four teams in NHL history have managed to overcome a 0-3 playoff deficit.
That’s what we learn from Bernier’s interview with the Quebec coach.
“I didn’t feel the team was in a position where they felt we weren’t capable of coming back from behind. In none of our four games did I feel we were in a panic or not in control of our emotions.” – Patrick Roy
Roy clearly has confidence in his club, which is not at all unusual for a coach.
You can’t coach a club and not think your team can beat another team.
Although the confidence is there, there’s a lot of work to be done to get back on track.
However, as Jonathan Bernier pointed out in his text, the Islanders’ chances of completing the comeback have greatly increased since Saturday’s win.
Before Game 4 of the series, the Isles had only a 1.9% chance of winning this series, but now that the series is 3-1 in favor of the Canes, the odds have jumped to 9.6%.
While Roy believes in momentum, he wants to make sure his club is as focused as possible.
Yes, I believe in momentum,” said the Islanders head coach. But our focus has to stay the same. I think that’s the key. We have to be ready to do what we did yesterday [Saturday]. – Patrick Roy
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored his first goal of the series on Saturday afternoon, when Mathew Barzal decided to take matters into his own hands.
Barzal scored two goals in the victory, including the winner in the second overtime period.
The win obviously gave the Islanders hope, and Pageau noted as much in Bernier’s same piece.
“Seeing smiles in the locker room is contagious. It gives us a confidence boost.” – Jean-Gabriel Pageau
The fifth game will be played in Raleigh, Carolina, on Tuesday, April 30.
Once again, Patrick Roy’s team will have no room for error.
Highlights
– Elias Lindholm plays hero in overtime.
– The Finn opens the scoring quickly.
– You’d have to pay me a lot to do what she did.
– Nikolai Kovalenko played his first career playoff game, and it’s very hard to check an NHL player, according to him.
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