The season is winding down and playoff talk is heating up. I think it is appropriate to discuss the potential Islander playoff matches, specifically focusing on the goaltenders. Now I’m sure you’ve read tons of articles addressing the Islanders, Rangers, Capitals, and Penguins strengths and weaknesses, but I don’t think these readings do a good job in the goalie department.
Lets start off with the Islanders vs the Capitals
Isles-Caps (2 vs 3)
Holtby and Halak are two solid goalies who have helped their respective teams win some tough close games. Holtby has not had as much help on the defensive end or from his backup goalie, seeing from the time on ice statistics provided by NHL.com. He leads the other 3 teams in the Metro division with the most minutes. Although I think the Capitals are not the weakest team defensively among the four, it will be interesting to see if he becomes more tired as the playoffs begin. If the Islanders do finish second and take on the Capitals, I think this will be one key to success. The Islanders are second in the NHL with 33.7 shots per game, and having 40+ shots per game in a playoff series may prove to help the Islanders defeat a physical and dangerous offensive capital team.
Islanders-Pens (1 vs 4)
The Penguins and Islanders rivalry takes us back to two years ago for a shortened season playoff match lasting 6 games. The Islanders were a serious underdog, and we saw the maturation process start to flourish for our young talent. Nothing would send ripples through the league like an Islander upset over the Penguins in the first round. Although the Pens did make some off season and trade deadline moves to strengthen the defensive end, I think it is pretty obvious they are the weakest in respect to the other three. Focusing on Fleury, we see he actually is tied with Holtby for the highest save percentage so far, with Halak, Lundqvist, and Talbot behind them. Fleury has always been a regular season goaltender, with great numbers until playoff time. Fleury, similar to Holtby, has the second largest time on ice minutes logged, and we see a heavy reliance on him for Pittsburgh. Although a similar strategy could be used to wear Fluery out, he is more experienced and could be more dangerous than Holtby if he gets hot. The islanders started doing this in the first playoff series that went 6 games, but will need to viciously crash the net and screen him. Fleury has not done great against the Islanders, and forcing him to scramble each and every game in addition to 35+ shots a night will not only provide solid opportunities for the Islanders in the paint, but will wear Fluery out and hurt his confidence.
Islanders-Rags (? vs?)
This is my predicted second round, with an Islander defeat over Pittsburgh and a Ranger defeat over Washington. The Rangers have gotten hot recently, fortunate that Talbot has been able to help them succeed. Talbot has a higher save percentage than Lundvqist, less goals against than Lundvqist, and less goals against average (obviously). We’ve all heard the rants about scheduling and the games in hand the Rangers have, but the question will be how well do they handle the pressure. The Rangers will play almost 20 games in 35 nights over the course of the remaining season. Lundqvist will come back and retake his responsibilities, and assuming no injuries the Rangers as a whole will be exhausted for the first round. With one of the better defense and goalie combination in the league, they will most likely come out on top, solely from capitalizing on other teams mistakes in the offensive and neutral zones. When they do get to the second round, they will be battered from a physical Capital team (if my prediction is correct), and will not make it out alive. I think any team that plays the Rangers in the first round must play a western conference style game with heavy checking. If Lundqvist does come back shaky it will be interesting to see if he sits and watches Talbot play game 1 of the playoffs.
Islanders
Halak is not as strong statistically as the other four goaltenders in this comparison. Halak also has very streaky tendencies and can make huge saves, or give up soft goals. As the season winds down it is important for the Islanders to use Neuvirth as much as possible without sacrificing the first or second spot in the division. Neuvirth has a better goals against then Holtby, Fleury, and Lundqvist. (Excluding Talbot as he has played far less games) Halak and the Islanders must end the season on a high note, with little to no injuries in order to come out with the results they want. The power play must be better and the penalty kill must develop slightly in order to compete. The Islanders also must play physical as we saw against the Penguins two years ago, and show that same heart that almost gave them a huge upset.
All in all i think it is safe to say the Penguins and the Capitals both have bigger challenges than the Rangers and Islanders, as this is not only clear in the standings at the moment, but the reliance on starting goal tending.
-All stats provided by ESPN and NHL.com
fighttevilspreadthetruth 