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New York Islanders Seek To Win First Ever Playoff Game At Barclays Center

By
Justin Weiss
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For the first time in its history, Brooklyn’s very own Barclays Center will host a New York Islanders Stanley Cup Playoffs game.

  • New York Islanders (1-1)
  • Florida Panthers (1-1)
  • East Divisional Semi-Finals, Today, 8:00 PM on NBCS, RSN, TVA, FSFL, MSG+
  • Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY

The New York Islanders return home to Barclays Center on Sunday night for the third game of a best-of-seven series against the Florida Panthers.

After opening the series with an audacious 5-4 victory, the Isles succumbed to Roberto Luongo and the Rink Rats by a score of 3-1 on Friday night. Both teams are considered threats in the second game of a back-to-back, but it was Florida that prevailed.

If this script sounds familiar, it’s because it happened last year: the Isles took game one on the road, dropped game two, and then returned to their home arena (which was Nassau Coliseum, home of every prior playoff home game in franchise history) for games 3 and 4.

The Isles are hoping to recreate some of the same magic of last year’s Game 3 overtime thriller that culminated in a game-winning score from El Capitano, John Tavares.

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  • Barclays Center gets to host its first playoff hockey game, and the Isles’ head coach is stoked.

“The Coliseum to me was one of the most intimidating buildings, [the fans] were right on top of you,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said. “It was great, and those series that we played against Pittsburgh and Washington here, it’s going to be the same way.

“We’ve got a taste of it. I think the first real taste for me was the [New York] Ranger game at home [on Dec. 2], just to see how loud it was. I just love New York fans and I love just the atmosphere and how vocal they are. We’re excited about this.”

  • It appears that Capuano is going with the same players for tonight’s marquee matchup. That includes rookie defenseman Ryan Pulock, who has struggled tremendously in his first career playoff series (he was called up, but didn’t play, in last year’s postseason), and rookie forward Alan Quine, who has been solid in his first career playoff stint.

“There’s a good chance those guys are going to stay in,” Capuano said. “For me, there’s no reason why those young guys [would come out]. They’ve played well, they’ve given us some good minutes. Ryan’s definitely a guy on that second-unit power play that is a weapon. If you take him away, it’s going to open up something else. We have some tough decisions to make. I think Quine has played great. But things change as a series goes on. Those two in particular for me have played really well.”

  • Panthers center Vincent Trocheck skated Saturday but will not play on Sunday night. Trocheck suffered a foot injury blocking a shot at the end of March. He could be back for Game 4.

NEXT: An Optimistic Letter To The Barclays Center

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Justin Weiss
Justin Weiss is a staff editor at Elite Sports New York, where he covers the New York Islanders and Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2016, he received a Quill Award for Freelance Journalism. He has written for the Long Island Herald, FanSided and YardBarker.

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