The New York Islanders stole a game on the road against the Boston Bruins in a, 4-3, overtime victory Monday night at TD Garden.
Casey Cizikas had the game-winning goal late in the overtime period after Boston rallied the third period to force the extra frame with goals from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.
Charlie Coyle opened the night’s scoring before the Islanders scored three unanswered goals in the second period from Josh Bailey, Kyle Palmieri and Jean-Gabriel Pageau to take a lead into the third period before Boston evened things up.
Semyon Varlamov made 39 saves on 42 shots in the win, while Tuukka Rask stopped 35 out of 39 shots faced in the loss.
It’s been a couple days since Game 2 and we didn’t get to provide a recap on Monday night, so here’s some ways each team could win the series.
How the Islanders could win the series
Pelech-Pulock pairing: Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock have proven to be a lethal combination at shutting down their opponent all season long, so it was no surprise to see Islanders head coach, Barry Trotz, make an adjustment to his defensive pairings and reunite the Pelech-Pulock combination on Monday.
After giving up five goals against in Game 1, it only makes sense for New York to fall back on what’s worked well this season– especially against the Bruins.
Pulock managed to have four assists against Boston in eight meetings in the regular season, while Pelech provided a goal and a pair of assists in that same span.
Though Pulock was a minus-2 and Pelech was a minus-1 in their regular season series with the B’s, their contributions from the blue line in both eliminating their opponent’s attack and jumpstarting New York’s offense from the back helped the Islanders go 5-2-1 in the regular season against Boston and outscore the Bruins, 21-18, in that span.
More of that should stifle Bruce Cassidy’s potent offense since the trade deadline and force Cassidy to get creative with his matchups, if not play with own lines himself.
Paging Pageau: Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and an assist in Game 2 to go along with his 5-3–8 totals in eight games against Boston in the regular season in 2020-21.
For some reason, Pageau’s emerged as the new Thomas Vanek when it’s time to play against the Bruins and could be their kryptonite if New York is ultimately to triumph over Boston in the Second Round.
If the B’s aren’t able to contain Pageau, not only will he post a threat himself, but he’ll be able to make everyone around him that much better as a rising tide lifts all boats and the Islanders look to avoid running aground against Boston.
Containing excellence: This kind of goes hand-in-hand with Pageau’s performance, but if the Islanders find a way to let their own players perform– both their actual best players on the roster like Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier, as well as the type of guys that come up big in clutch moments at this time of year (like Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson)– then they’ll also need to find a balance between sheer scoring power and defense.
Or in plain terms, finding the right two-way style against the Bruins.
The B’s can and have exposed Trotz’ trap, so the Islanders will be the ones that have to adapt.
It’s not that anyone wouldn’t want to see an, 8-7, final score in a playoff game from time-to-time, but it is to say that if New York isn’t careful, Boston’s first line alone can force the game into some sort of shootout skills competition event.
As it is, David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick in Game 1, while Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand worked their magic to force overtime in Game 2.
If the Islanders can limit Boston’s first line in their opportunities to make an impact on the series, then New York will open up their own chances to runaway with things– especially if there’s any question about the health of the Bruins’ second line, though it appears Craig Smith (lower body) will be good to go in Game 3.
How the Bruins could win the series
Make Swiss cheese: Just like how the Islanders turned Tristan Jarry into, well, Tristan Jarry in the First Round against Pittsburgh, the Bruins could do the same with Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin– and they already did it to the revolving door of goaltenders against the Washington Capitals in the First Round.
Though Varlamov has the experience of backstopping his team to the Eastern Conference Final in 2020, New York necessitated the use of their then backup, Thomas Greiss, in the process as the Islanders clawed their way past the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2020 Second Round before ultimately surrendering to the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the Conference Final.
Boston’s already unloaded on Sorokin and his lack of postseason experience in their, 5-2, victory in Game 1 and Varlamov didn’t exactly look dialed in on the first shot of the game for the Bruins in Game 2 (because it turned out to be a goal against, courtesy of Charlie Coyle).
If the Bruins force Trotz to juggle his netminders from night-to-night, then they’ll have a significant step up on their competition as there’s plenty of stability in the crease for Boston.
Which brings up the next point for the B’s…
Avoid bad luck: The majority of goals against for Boston have come from deflections– both accidental own goals and intentional redirections from their opponent– which means that Tuukka Rask hasn’t been bad by any means.
Though he posted an .897 save percentage in Game 2 against the Islanders (his worst thus far in the postseason), at least a pair of goals came off of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for Jeremy Lauzon and his teammates.
Rask has been locked in and was a major contributor to the fact that the Bruins eliminated Washington in five games and kept Alex Ovechkin mostly out of the equation– Ovechkin didn’t have a goal at 5-on-5 in the series, for the record.
Unless absolutely necessary, Jeremy Swayman won’t have to suit up in a game against New York.
Though his confidence has been fantastic through 10 regular season games, as more time passes between starts, there’s no sense in knowing what to expect from Swayman over Rask, who, in fact, is still the Boston’s starting goaltender.
Health insurance: One of the keys to a long run for the Bruins is true of all teams– avoid injuries. Stay healthy.
Boston’s got more depth than in recent years with an actual top-six forward playing alongside David Krejci in Taylor Hall on the wing (with Craig Smith on the other side), but any long term injuries to the first two lines could prove to be detrimental.
On defense, on the other hand, at least Jarred Tinordi is a serviceable asset for a game or two while Kevan Miller remains out of commission.
Down the Frozen River 
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