In this edition of Potvin’d, Jeff Clutterbuck provides five reactions to the New York Islanders Game 1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
*Named for the legendary defenseman and captain of the Islanders dynasty teams of the 1980’s, ‘Potvin’d’ will highlight five concerns, questions, thoughts, and opinions about the New York Islanders and the NHL.
The New York Islanders, still giddy over making the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1993, got off to yet another strong start in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
After an initial surge from Tampa Bay, Travis Hamonic tied it up with a blast from near the blue line that trickled past Ben Bishop, and from that point on it was off to the races, with the Islanders claiming their second consecutive Game 1 victory of these playoffs 5-3.
So with that in mind, let’s dig deeper into the huge win for the Islanders in this edition of Potvin’d:
The Best Fourth Line in Hockey
Yes, a lot of people have taken issue with the amount of praise that the Islanders’ fourth line has received over the past couple years.
Guess what? It is night like last night where they show their value. Matt Martin (3 SOG and 2 hits), Cal Clutterbuck (1 G) and Casey Cizikas (5 hits) demonstrated their physicality and mental toughness yet again, punishing Lightning player after player.
After playing against a team that had the edge in terms of size, the Islanders find themselves on the other side of the aisles in this series; so expect them to take full advantage of it when they can. Look no further than what Cizikas did to Erik Condra at the 4:45 mark of the first period…
O Captain! My Captain!
Did you think I wasn’t going to make this reference at some point in Potvin’d? Well, guess again!
But at this point, what else can be said about the Islanders captain, John Tavares? The man continued his torrid streak of play, notching two more points in the Game 1 victory. In addition to getting credited with a secondary assist on Travis Hamonic‘s goal that opened the scoring for New York, Tavares knocked Ben Bishop out of the game in the second with a blistering snipe.
As things currently stand, Tavares leads all players in the playoffs with 11 points, and is showing no indication of slowing down. With secondary scoring providing the bulk of the goals this evening, things are looking up for the Islanders offense…
Let’s Go Crazy
The New York Rangers acquired Eric Staal at the trade deadline, prompting amusing reactions from the Islanders fanbase that sounded somewhat like the following; “What are we doing? How can Garth Snow stand pat like this? Who is this Shane Prince guy?”
Well, Staal was busy cleaning out his locker (That he had for all of three months; was it worth it Rangers fans?) this week, while Prince was scoring two goals in the opening game between the Islanders and Lightning.
Yes, there’s a lot of Monday Morning QB’ing going on here, but for those who were willing to dig a little deeper at the trade deadline, there was a strong undercurrent of “Keep an eye on the young man” B.D. Galoof, Islander writer extraordinaire, in particular laid out a fairly compelling case for Prince as a solid pickup, and here we are months later as Prince continues to prove his worth for this Islanders team.
A 3 Goal Lead: The Scariest Lead in Hockey
Coming into the 3rd period, Islanders fans were experiencing a foreign concept to them in this playoff run; their team holding a multiple goal lead.
After battering Ben Bishop to the tune of 4 goals on 13 SOG, New York was riding high heading into the final frame up 4-1. But as is often the case with this particular team, things are often too good to be true. Nikita Kucherov sparked the Lightning with a goal at 7:41, and from that point it was strictly a nail-biting, nervous affair for Islanders fans.
Vaitteri Flippula punched one past Thomas Greiss after a late period Power Play opportunity expired for Tampa Bay, and things were looking quite bleak for New York. Luckily for the Islanders, their late game magic held once more, and Calvin De Haan was able to poke check the puck to a streaking Cizikas who was able to connect with Clutterbuck for the easily empty-net goal. And with that, New York cemented their victory.
You’re as cold as Greiss…
Okay, everyone gets to make a Greiss pun, so why can’t I?
Much as with John Tavares, we are running out of superlative to hurl towards Thomas Greiss, who continues to make stellar save after stellar save as the Islanders starting goalie in these playoffs.
When all was said and done, Greiss stopped 33 of 36 SOG, for a Save Percentage of .917. That number may not initially seem impressive, but just a quick run through the game recap will show that Greiss is playing out of his mind right now, something that I’m sure nobody saw coming when he was signed last summer.
The big question with Greiss is “How long can this last?” Well if you want to look at it in the big picture, New York’s favorite (currently) German would only need 11 victories to claim….well you know. Looking at a sample size of 11 games, it becomes easier to contemplate the notion that Greiss could maintain the rate of play he’s currently demonstrating.
After all, there’s another goalie on this roster that knows a thing about getting hot in the playoffs…and he’s not even playing.