2016 Playoffs, Panthers Game 2: Secondary Flaws

Game 2 started with a pretty even pace, but yielded a couple of Panthers goals in each of the first two periods despite New York doing a lot of things well. Florida gained a 2-0 lead and were able to dictate most of the play, generate odd man rushes and capitalized on the Isles lack of control in the neutral zone. The Islanders did get fired up late in the second period and started to become a little unpleasant to play against, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

The third period saw the Islanders grind away at the Panthers control.  John Tavares (Leddy & Okposo) put in a Nick Leddy rebound with around 3:30 to go in the game causing Florida to take their time out with the score at 2-1.  Isles pulled Greiss with 1:27 remaining and call their own timeout with :48 seconds left, but surrender the ENG with :09 seconds remaining as the rats rain down causing a huge delay to end the game.  Isles lose game 2 by the score of 3-1.

It was close, but the Panthers adjusted from yesterday and although the Islanders outshot the Panthers 42-31, Florida had a better effort throughout the game.  To make things worse, the Isles misfired on the PP (0/3) and were terrible in the neutral zone, giving up way too many odd man rushes and it cost them.

Some things that really peeved me: The lack luster efforts and missed assignments by Josh Bailey.  The Isles secondary scoring or lack thereof.  The PP was brutal and really let the Isles down in the game.  Questionable officiating usually comes into focus when a team is frustrated and tonight’s example was no exception.  Florida escaped quite a few blatant penalties (only going man down once) including an open ice trip on Quine with a few minutes remaining in the 2^nd period that could have finished off some of the snarl the Isles were generating.

Some of the pros in tonight’s game; Thomas Greiss was good, going 28 for 30 with a .933Sv% and has not slowed down with a career high workload and in back to back playoff pressure.  Both goals surrendered by Greiss were off blown plays and the odd man rush.  Quine & Pulock looked good again and the first line was very good.  They generated a lot and played with bite with Tavares (12 pts in last 5 games, 4 in 2 playoff games) & Okposo took 17 shots.  Kyle Okposo played with the snarl that separates him from other star forwards in the NHL.  He has a relentless work ethic that made enough of an impression on me tonight to name him Grail Knight of the game.

Roberto Luongo had a clear view of the puck for much of the night without Lee in the lineup and really wasn’t pushed too hard, although he had a much better game in net.  Florida’s defense also had a better effort in front of him.  As frustrating as it can be about what didn’t go right, the Islanders are now tied with Florida in the series, 1-1 going back to Brooklyn.  “We played better tonight than we did last night,” Head Coach Jack Capuano said referencing the Islanders’ 5-4 win in Game 1. “We should be going 1-1 and we are. We’re going back to Brooklyn and we know the atmosphere is going to be great.”

The Islanders had some good elements to their game tonight and they have home ice if the series goes the distance.  The blood between the two teams is starting to get bad and the hate is growing, you can see it.  Brooklyn finally gets its first Isles playoff game and the fans will be there in force and are sure to make an impression.

Isles Notes:

Per Eric Hornick, “have not led series 2-0 since 1983 Stanley Cup Final, when they swept Edmonton in 4 games. Look for 2-0 lead tonight.”

Peter Botte, “Sixth straight playoff series the Isles have gained 1-1 road split. Lost all five previous ones. Went 3-9 at the beloved Coliseum those yrs.”

Rick DiPietro reminds us of a stat that Luongo hasn't won a playoff game since 2011, loser in 8 straight early in broadcast. Jinx?

Sound Tigers Notes:

Michael Dal Colle has been reassigned from Kingston (OHL) to Bridgeport (AHL) and will make his Sound Tigers debut tonight.

Isles announce Devon Toews signs entry level contract.  Should go to BST after conclusion of school year per Arthur Staple.

Bridgeport Sound Tigers beat Portland 3-2, clinching their first playoff spot since 2012.