The 1st game of the 2nd Round kicks off from TD Garden, Boston on Saturday at 8:00 PM EST. The New York Islanders visit the Boston Bruins in the East Division matchup. Boston defeated the Washington Capitals in 5 games while the 4th seeded Isles prevailed over the top seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in 6 games. The goalies for both hockey teams were super as Ilya Sorokin of New York went 4-0 in his 4 starts against Sidney Crosby while Tuukka Rask went 4-1 in 5 starts against the Great 8 Alex Ovechkin. This series will be really fun and I’m guessing every game will be close.
The New York Islanders “wowed” me against the Pens. They produced tons of offense unlike how they did in the regular season while having a good and aggressive backend. Their 2nd line which consisted of Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson, and Anthony Beauvillier. Bailey had a huge overtime winner in Game 5, Nelson had a pair of goals and an assist in their series-sealer in Game 6, and Beauvillier was great throughout the series. They did the job on home ice which was at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, New York, they were aggressive but didn’t take many penalties, and had a good forecheck. Speaking of forecheck, they forced Pittsburgh to give up the puck and that turnover led to good things. It led to goals, shot on goals, and power plays because Pittsburgh was caught out of position. They mostly took away Crosby, Rust, and Guentzel which supported them largely. Crosby was held to one goal this series which is hard to do. They have to have the same recipe which they used to stop the Pen’s top 3 to stop Bergeron, Marchand, and Pastrnak. It will be a tough series for them but with Barry Trotz as their head coach, anything is possible.
The Bruins played magnificently against the Caps in the 1st Round and really amazed me. I expected them to win that series but not in such a dominating way. Pasta (nickname for Pastrnak found his game in the last few games of that series and was fantastic. That will certainly help Bruce Cassidy’s team in this series if he continues to play this way. The Bruins special teams were also really good. Washington had the same 5 on the power play every single time and they made adjustments to kill off every single one. They shut down Ovechkin and didn’t allow them to play how they like to play. Defenseman Charlie McAvoy was spectacular for their defense and also had great offense on their top line. This team in not afraid to change up things on their lineup and that is partly why they are such a successful team. The Isles are a heck of a team defensively but I believe the Bruins can still break through.
I believe the Boston Bruins will win game 1 of the 2nd Round by the score of 4-3. They almost had a week off and should be energized and ready to go for this one. Rask has been a great goalie this postseason and will definitely make some good saves in this match. Home ice will help them as fans usually give positive energy to the players. This hockey team is an all-rounder and can accomplish pretty much anything. The special teams are tremendous which is key to this series. I believe they will dominate in shots and push New York into defensive mode.
The 3rd and 4th and seed of the East division start Round 2 in this Stanley Cup Playoffs. Can the New York Islanders jump out to an early lead in the series with a win in Boston or will the Boston Bruins strike in front of their fans? We will find out quite soon from the capital of Massachusetts, Boston.
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