In no particular order, bets for Saturday afternoon’s New York battle for the Islanders include, but are not limited to:
- If the Islanders win and both the Capitals (vs. Tampa) and Red Wings (Toronto) lose, they will advance to the playoffs.
- Rangers manager Peter Laviolette honored Adam Pelech and Noah Dobson after he criticized both players for their “egregious” hits during the Islanders’ 4-2 win over the Blueshirts on Tuesday. I protected it.
- Learn more about Dobson’s status after he left Thursday’s win over Montreal in the first period with an upper-body injury.
- After the Islanders chased down Semyon Varlamov, this is a chance for Ilya Sorokin to regain his confidence and assert himself as a potential playoff starter.
- It further threatens the archrival’s chances of winning the President’s Trophy for the first time since 2015, and in doing so increases the chances of a first-round battle in New York.
So you could be forgiven for calling this an important game while wondering why on earth the NHL thought it was acceptable for these teams to only play each other three times last season.
The Islanders’ playoff chances are in the air after Thursday night’s six-game winning streak, a loss at Washington, and Detroit’s overtime loss to the Penguins, who currently hold the second wild-card spot. has reached its peak.
According to MoneyPuck’s calculations, that percentage currently stands at 91.4 per cent and would only fall to 86.4 per cent if The Garden were to lose regulation.
Finally, with only three games left in the season, the Islanders seem willing to make a few mistakes.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you need to vent.
“Given what’s at stake right now and the teams that are coming after us, we’re in a position where we can control our own destiny,” Casey Cizikas said.
“We’re in control of what we do and we play like that because we’re in the game every night. You can see it on the ice and you can feel it in the locker room. Guys. I agree.”
They have become an unpredictable team in an unpredictable playoff race.
The last thing the Islanders want is a winner-take-all Game 82 against the Penguins at UBS Arena. The Penguins crushed the Penguins by a score of 7-0 in the last game for both teams on Long Island.
Just like last season, the Islanders finally started to find their game late in the season.
Unlike last year, there should be no need for us to lose until the end.
“I really think we have a great group here,” Perec said when asked about the commonalities. “Obviously everyone wants to get to the playoffs and play well for the fans and everyone else. So as we head into the final months of the season, we have a new I think we’ve reached a level where we can do that. That’s exactly what we needed to do to improve ourselves in this position. ”
The Islanders did not practice Friday, so there was no update on Dobson. Dobson posted a time of 24 minutes, 31 seconds every night during his outstanding season, and will be on many Norris Trophy ballots in a week.
If the 24-year-old defenseman is sidelined, the Islanders will likely have to play both Sebastian Aho and Robert Bortuzzo in a left-handed defensive configuration, but Aho has already been cited for playing offside. accustomed to.
Samuel Bolduc is also an option, but he hasn’t played since January 27 and is unlikely to return to the lineup.
The power play, which was 0-for-4 and a bit of a loss on Thursday, is the first concern, and will soon become a concern about time distribution and how to break up the matchups along the blue line, which misses horses. .
“It’s clear he’s very important to this team,” Pelech said. “He’s had a great year for us, playing a lot of minutes in any situation. So it’s tough to lose him so early, but the other five defensemen and the whole team are so grateful for him. I think he did a good job of picking up the slack when he was sent off.”
Aho’s 22:46 on Thursday marked his second-highest minutes of the season.
So did Mike Riley, who finished the night with 22:27 of ice time after the Islanders played most of the night with just five defensemen.
Ironically, for most of the season, Dobson was the one whose playing time ballooned due to injuries. That could turn around on perhaps the most dangerous afternoon of the season.
