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The New York Islanders’ playoff run came to an end on Thursday night, after losing Game 6 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It was a great and somewhat unexpected run for the team. A lot was working for New York and they deserved to get as far as they did. They were the better team against Florida, Washington and Philadelphia but simply ran up against a tough opponent with the Lightning.
So what led to this run?
Anthony Beauvillier had a breakout stretch in the playoffs and while he cooled off in the Eastern Conference Final, he was the team’s top forward for much of the first two rounds, as well as the qualifying round. Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson were great as well, combining for 38 points in 22 games. In fact, the second line was the strongest on the team for a good chunk of the playoffs, combining for 20 goals, compared to 17 from the first line.
Speaking of the first line, they were one of the few disappointments on this run. They couldn’t be counted on for consistent offense, took a while to get going at the start of the playoffs and didn’t really show up for the start of the series against Tampa Bay.
It was also surprising to me to see how well Jean-Gabriel Pageau fit. He did wonders for the third-line and was pretty much always reliable in every zone, plus, was just a goal away from being tied for the team lead.
A huge part of New York’s success, however, relied on their defense. When the Islanders’ defense was able to keep opponents to the outside and win battles below the goal line, they gave up very, very few chances. This was clear in the first two rounds (and qualifying round), as the Islanders would allow shots, but not many of a high quality.
Ryan Pulock was one of the team’s best players throughout the run, while Adam Pelech was a force as a shutdown defenseman. Devon Toews was good for the most part, despite some lapses, and I was impressed with Andy Greene as well.
The Islanders also got the goaltending that they had been lacking around the time when the regular season was postponed. Semyon Varlamov was great, especially in the last couple games against Tampa Bay and Thomas Greiss filled in well when he was called upon. Other than maybe a couple of games, New York’s goaltenders always gave them a chance to win and very few of the goals that they let in through the stretch were really their fault.
It was awesome to see the Islanders get that far in the playoffs and it was a run that was well-deserved. Hopefully, we see them build on this and solidify themselves as a team that can consistently go deep in the playoffs.
Thanks to everyone for following along through the playoffs and I'm looking forward to an exciting offseason and ideally, more deep playoff runs!
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