RALEIGH, N.C. — The Islanders know they will be underdogs in a first-round rematch against the Carolina team that eliminated them last season in six games.
They are used to it now.
“I don’t know when we’ve never been the underdog, to be honest,” Anders Lee said Friday.
“I’m sure if you ask around who is the favorite to win this series, everyone will say the Hurricanes,” said coach Patrick Roy. “They’re going to say the only chance the Islanders have is if the goalies outscore the other goalies.”
But?
“But I think our team is playing very well,” Roy said. “We’re probably one of the better teams in the last 10 games.”
Indeed, the playoffs come at just the right time for an Islanders team that has adapted and solidified at just the right time to compile an 8-1-0 record and earn a playoff berth in the pre -last match of the season.
This is their chance to prove the experts wrong and get revenge on the team that beat them a year ago and knocked them out of the playoffs in 2019.
And the Islanders intend to seize it.
The Post’s Ethan Sears details the clashes:
Goalie
Carolina’s Frederik Andersen spent most of the year injured, but since returning to the lineup on March 7, he has been excellent, posting a 9-1-0 record and save percentage. of .951, proof that the Dane has not lost a step. Likewise, Semyon Varlamov took the starting job from Ilya Sorokin and is riding a 7-1-0 streak, over which he has compiled a .935 save percentage, into the playoffs.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Hurricanes’ Sorokin or Pyotr Kochetkov get a turn at some point in the series – although Roy made it clear on Friday that it was Varlamov’s net for now – and despite an off year for the 2023 Vezina finalist, there may not be a team in the league that can match the Islanders’ goaltending tandem.
Edge: Islanders
Defense
Since Roy took over, the Islanders have allowed just 2.12 goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five, which would rank them sixth in the league on a seasonal basis. They held opponents to under 30 shots and 10 high-danger chances per game every 60 at five-on-five, both dramatic improvements thanks to Roy’s implementation of a more successful man-based system to keep teams out of the middle of the ice. .
Carolina’s blue line, however, is as deep as it gets. Between Brent Burns, Jaccob Slavin, Brady Skjei, Brett Pesce, Dmitry Orlov and Jalen Chatfield, there is simply no weak spot on the depth chart. Even though Noah Dobson appears ready to return from injury in Game 1, it’s possible the Islanders’ best defenseman won’t be at full strength.
Edge: Hurricanes
Attackers
For the first time since 1993-94, the Islanders had three 30-goal scorers: Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat and Kyle Palmieri. For the first time since his rookie year, Mat Barzal reached 80 points.
But Carolina has a 30-goal scoring trio in Sebastian Aho, Seth Jarvis and Jake Guentzel, the latter of whom has been on a tear since being acquired from Pittsburgh at the deadline. Carolina’s roster depth is also a major plus, with one of the best checking lines in the league, anchored by Jordan Staal, and four lines that can wear teams down.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s line can fill the same role as Staal’s for the Islanders, but Pageau is a question mark for Game 1 due to a lower-body injury, and further down the lineup , the Islanders do not have the same goal depth as the “Canes”.
Edge: Hurricanes
Special teams
Carolina’s power play is second in the league; the Islanders finished the year ranked 19th. Carolina’s penalty kill is best in the league; The Islanders have a unit that drifted into historically awful territory this season and finished dead last in the NHL. Anything can happen in seven games, but there’s no real debate here.
Edge: Hurricanes
management
Rod Brind’Amour has had nothing but success since taking over Carolina, reaching at least the second round every year except one. His imprint is everywhere on a team that plays a distinct set of systems – man-to-man defense, heavy offense, high-pressure penalty killing – and Brind’Amour won the Jack Adams Award for best coach in the league in 2021.
Patrick Roy is about to coach his first NHL playoff series since the 2014 first round, when his Avalanche lost in seven games to the Wild. But he won the Memorial Cup as coach with the Quebec Remparts twice, including last season, and has done an excellent job so far in three months with the Islanders.
Edge: Hurricanes
Prediction
It’s not as lopsided as many would have you believe and the Islanders are capable of making a series out of it. But Carolina has been the better team all season and deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Hurricanes in 6
New York Post
