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GDT - Hurricanes vs Islanders, Game 1 (Round 2) - 7pm EST

JamesNorthern

JamesNorthern

Active member
This is it folks, round 2. We've exceeded expectations, officially. Making the playoffs was the goal. Beating the defending Stanley Cup champs and in so doing coming out of the first round? Bra-f##@$-ho boys!

Now. For every reason Rierdon is a baffoon and unqualified NHL coach, Trotz is and will demonstrate he's not. The extra incentive for an already good coach being able to show his now golfing former Capitals and owner Leonidos the finger is there. But make no mistake, like our guys and Brindy, the Islanders have bought into Trotz.

We will need to roll four lines. Hope to see Svech, Ferland and Martinook in this series, listening to Brind'amour sounds like these guys are all game time last minute decisions. Svech particularly for those anticipating a return for the young Russian to his first NHL playoffs, still needs to pass phase 3 of the concussion protocol before being cleared to play. No word when that will be happening any time soon. As was announced, I don't think they will rush him and likely won't play him right away even if he is cleared to play.

The Islanders are a well coached and talented team. They've been getting it done all year. Although we beat them only one game during four matchups during the regular season the games were mostly very close IIRC.

7 o'clock start, so puck drop probably around 7h18.

Go Jerks!

Ps. To the members who usually do this sort of thing, not trying to steal any thunder, please merge as you see fit.

Editorial note: Merged as per usual. You hit post as I was typing so forgive me any overlap ... JB
 
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GDT: Canes @ Islanders, Game 1, 4/26, 7:00 pm Eastern

OK ... first, access. You know the drill on the 7:00 starts by now ... puck drop will be around 7:20. Secondly, the 2nd round shifts exclusively to NBC and NBCSN for television. John Forslund has been assigned to do play by play, which is great for Canes fans. Since the Mighty Forslund is tied up, the local radio will be Manisicalco on PBP while Tripp Tracey does whatever you call what he does ... let's go with experimental stream of consciousness beat poetry for now.

Now ... Game 1. Carolina will be in game rhythm, although one would assume they're a bit worn out. The Isles, not so much. Judging on the Boston/Columbus game last night, that can cut both ways. Columbus certainly looked fresher, but their hands were a period or two behind the Bruins in their Game 1 OT loss in Boston. The season series between the Islanders and Canes doesn't tell us a heck of a lot. All four games were done by the end of the first week in January, which was about the point in time where the Canes really came into their own as a team. The Isles got the pubescent version of the Canes, not the full grown model. Still, they kicked Carolina around 3-1 in the series and looked pretty good doing it.

In terms of intelligence reports ... good luck. Carolina took the day off to recover yesterday, flying up to NYC in the mid-afternoon. Brindy had some press availability and gave the following vagueness on the roster ... Svech, still has one hurdle to clear the protocol. Martinook ... I hope so. Ferland .... same. There ya go. Hopefully more to come later today. Martinook is probably no better or worse than he was, so he's a strong maybe. Ferland? Not sure, but that's the first time in awhile that Brind'Amour has even acted like he wants the guy back in the lineup. That's a shift. Svech? Dunno. They're confident he'll play in the series. That's about it. Carolina's focus will be what it has always been this season ... playing their own game and imposing that on the Isles rather than the other way around.

As for the Isles, they play that Trotz clamp defensive system really well, but that wasn't what beat the Pens. In fact, the Pens got PLENTY of scoring chances. Way more than I thought I'd see. What killed the Pens was the combination of Lehner playing HUGE in net and timely scoring. Jordan Eberle woke up just in time from one of the worst offensive years of his career and just potted important goal after important goal. Val Fillpula of all people found his Wayne Gretzky button and starting dishing out dimes all over the place, same with Barzal. The kings of boring defensive hockey somehow found 14 goals in the 4 games of Round 1. That's not anything close to what the book on these guys says. Carolina will need to mind their gaps and play solid 5 man D out of the gate in this one, because this version of the Isles couldn't be more confident in the offensive zone.

This one might be a bit of a fencing match, as the matchups that each team wants aren't super obvious. They both like to match 1s on 1s, so I'd guess we'll see that in the opening frame and then shift from there. Carolina showed exceptional flexibility in Round 1, but that was mostly borne of necessity given the challenge presented by the Caps and their own injury situation. The Isles are a different cup of tea and the injury situation will be in flux. Clark Bishop was recalled just in case, which makes sense. We'll just have to see what unfolds otherwise.

So ... buckle in children. It's likely to be a long series.
 
In The Athletic, Dom ("Buy Me a Vowel") Luszczyszyn gives the Canes a slight edge in this series, by the slimmest of margins - especially if the series goes long. While the Canes have better overall analytics, the play of Lehner in net has been off-the-charts good. I would have preferred another day of rest for the Canes, but hopefully they can rekindle the fire in the belly to match the intensity that will be needed to secure a victory in Game 1. Trotz is nothing if not a proven, great coach, so any wins won't be easy.
 
True dat ^^

One thing I forgot to mention in my pre game post ... I think we have to be very careful about not assuming this game will set any kind of tone for the series. The Isles are rested, maybe TOO rested, while the Canes are dragging into this one like a rescue puppy. Rust versus still being on a high from two days ago help take the egde off of that, but I think the Canes are going to have to play their way into this series while the Islanders only have to find their game hands. One mountain is a molehill, the other is an actual mountain.

This is a classic, "go do your best situation" for Carolina. If they get the W, great. If not, tuck it in, get ready for Game 2 and hope you get a reinforcement or two off of the shelf in the meantime. People always seem too eager to make broad sweeping pronouncements after Game 1 anyway, but in this case I think that's going to be especially dangerous ... for a lot of reasons.
 
jeffbear said:
True dat ^^

One thing I forgot to mention in my pre game post ... I think we have to be very careful about not assuming this game will set any kind of tone for the series. The Isles are rested, maybe TOO rested, while the Canes are dragging into this one like a rescue puppy. Rust versus still being on a high from two days ago help take the egde off of that, but I think the Canes are going to have to play their way into this series while the Islanders only have to find their game hands. One mountain is a molehill, the other is an actual mountain.

This is a classic, "go do your best situation" for Carolina. If they get the W, great. If not, tuck it in, get ready for Game 2 and hope you get a reinforcement or two off of the shelf in the meantime. People always seem too eager to make broad sweeping pronouncements after Game 1 anyway, but in this case I think that's going to be especially dangerous ... for a lot of reasons.
Click to expand...

I found the Boston-Columbus tilt to be a lot like that last night. Bruins just coming off a single one day layoff from round 1 and looking like they were far more ready to play out of the gate then the overly rested Jackets who had a hard time finding their legs early in the game. The Islanders are certainly going need a bit of time to get back up on the horse after being off that long so an early goal or two by the Canes tonight might go a long way in game 1!

I still think the Islanders are nuts for going back to Brooklyn, that building has no atmosphere or electricity anything like the Coliseum, the Nassau Coliseum is a perfect barn for playoff hockey, the place jumps, it just seems like they should have said were staying in Uniondale for as far as we go in the playoffs.
 
CanadaCanes said:
I still think the Islanders are nuts for going back to Brooklyn, that building has no atmosphere or electricity anything like the Coliseum, the Nassau Coliseum is a perfect barn for playoff hockey, the place jumps, it just seems like they should have said were staying in Uniondale for as far as we go in the playoffs.
Click to expand...

Yeah ... it's not the building. It's the fact that nobody wants to be there. The Isles fan base is still the same people who went to Uniondale. They don't live "in the city" and have to schlep a long way to get all the way to Barclays, only to find a building that has a huge swath of what otherwise would be good seating obstructed thanks to the design. It's just not home and doesn't fell like it when the Isles play. I seem to remember when they cut this deal with the NHL to split home games, this was part of the deal. I don't remember why exactly, but it seems cruel and unusual to me.
 
Hoping we can take advantage of this switch to Barclays and relative lack of atmosphere... I'm sure it will be better than it is during the regular season, like everywhere, but I'm not sorry we're not playing half this series in Nassau
 
The interesting thing about Lehner and the Canes is that we didn't face him at all in any of the 4 regular season games. It was Canes killer Thomas Greiss getting all of the starts and going 3-1-0 with a 1.76 GAA and .949 Sv%.

The Canes goalies numbers vs. the Islanders don't really matter much either as both of Petr Mrazek's starts against the Islanders were in October. He went 0-1-1 2.04 GAA. .900Sv%) Scott Darling played the only stinker the Canes had this season against the Islanders.
 
The Isles couldn’t start the series at Nassau, there is an equestrian event there all weekend. The league probably wouldn’t allow them to change buildings in the middle of the series, so they’re stuck at Barclays.


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andyt said:
The Isles couldn’t start the series at Nassau, there is an equestrian event there all weekend. The league probably wouldn’t allow them to change buildings in the middle of the series, so they’re stuck at Barclays.


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Click to expand...

Thanks ... I knew it was something but couldn't remember. Stupid horses :0)
 
andyt said:
The Isles couldn’t start the series at Nassau, there is an equestrian event there all weekend. The league probably wouldn’t allow them to change buildings in the middle of the series, so they’re stuck at Barclays.


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Click to expand...

I don't know that it had anything to do with the horsey event, although that is a convenient excuse. They had announced long before the playoff berths were clinched and they knew who was getting home ice that they would play the first round at the Nassau Coliseum and the rest at Barclays. The fact is, they will sell out Barclays in the second round and simply make a ton more money than playing at the Coliseum.
 
andyt said:
The Isles couldn’t start the series at Nassau, there is an equestrian event there all weekend. The league probably wouldn’t allow them to change buildings in the middle of the series, so they’re stuck at Barclays.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

They are playing in Brooklyn because the terms of their lease--which was renegotiated to allow some of their games to be played at NYCB Live, formerly known as the Nassau Coliseum--requires that all home games beyond the first round be played at Barclays Center.
 
BTW ... no formal injury updates, but apparently both Svech and Martinook are game time decisions. Read into that what you will. Ferland is apparently out.
 
If, as I understand it, Ferland is dealing with a wonky rotator cuff. That makes it hard to do much - I know, I am too. Especially the kind of moves required in hockey. If so, it's better he not try to play.
 
Well It's nearing game time.. Go win one on the road to START the series gents.. Make the next round a bit easier then the last.
 
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