Last weekend the first game in the Eastern Conference Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders was played. The question arises if the Isles will be able to bounce back after they were mauled by the Lightning, or whether Tampa Bay gets one step closer to the Stanley Cup Finals?
Tampa Bay Lightning: Stanley Cup favourites
The Tampa Bay Lightning have always been one of the contenders for winning the Stanley Cup in recent years, but 2020 could be the year they finally will be crowned champion again. Last season things went tremendously wrong against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but in the first round of the current playoffs Tampa Bay took revenge in a direct encounter in early August. In the second round, the Boston Bruins, who won the Presidents Trophy in the pandemic-shortened season, were eliminated in five games.
Not only has the defense of the Bolts been looking good for weeks, the team has been an offensive machine for the last years now too and this became clear again last Sunday. The hockey team opened the Eastern Conference Finals by blowing out the New York Islanders. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov showed great form as each scored five points in the Lightning's 8-2 win.
New York Islanders: seek to even series
Surprisingly, since the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs began, the New York Islanders have been able to impress with their offensive power. Perhaps too much emphasis was placed on eliminating the Florida Panthers (in four games), Washington Capitals (in four games) and the Philadelphia Flyers (in seven games). Florida has had to rely on incompetent goali all season, while Philadelphia showed a deplorable level after the Round Robin games. Florida had to deal with incompetent goaltending all season, while Philadelphia played on a poor level after the Round Robin games.
The Isles went into the first game against the Bolts with quite some confidence on Sunday night, but were shelled 8-2 by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first game of the Eastern Conference Final. After ten minutes of play, coach Barry Trotz's team was facing a 3-1 deficit. Goalie Thomas Greiss was pulled and replaced by Semyon Varlamov, but even the Russian goalie could not prevent a deception and had to clear the puck out of the net five times in the remainder of the game. Trotz is now stuck with two goalies, whose trust has been shattered. It remains to be seen with whom of the two Trotz will start Game 2.
Tampa Bay in regulation
Tampa Bay showed the Isles in Game 1 what they are capable of. After they got thumped by the Lightning, you can expect a better performance from the Islanders on Wednesday night. In my opinion, the difference in quality is simply too big. After all, the Bolts have few weaknesses; they have great goaltending, can score and are extremely dominant in puck possession during five-on-five play. The latter cannot be said of the Isles. The team of Barry Trotz will have to chase the puck a lot in their own end and especially hope that one of their goalies has a good day. I'm expecting Tampa Bay to make another statement and see them taking a 2-0 lead in the series.
