Bruins In-depth Analysis of the Islanders:
Final thoughts
This series is going to be a close and entertaining one. There are so many factors going into how this series could go. One being home-ice advantage, which the B’s start with. If the B’s can win the first two games of the series, they should win the series.
Another factor is goaltending. Although Sorokin has played well so far this postseason, he’s only started once against the B’s in his career, the other appearance coming as relief of an injured Varlamov.
Rask, on the other hand, has a ton of experience, both against the Isles and in the playoffs. Because of that, I would say the Black and Gold have the advantage in net.
Additionally, Boston will have to shutdown players that had killed them in the regular season. These players include Pageau, Barzal, and Leddy. However, other players have emerged for the Isles in the playoffs this season — players such as Beauvillier and Bailey. If the B’s can control these players, they should win this series easily.
Furthermore, players such as Pastrnak and Bergeron will have to step up against the Isles. Pasta only had two goals against the Islanders in the regular season — he needs to have more than that in this series. Bergeron only scored a goal and three assists — he needs to be better than that.
Furthermore, players such as Krejci and McAvoy will need to be better. They only registered assists against the Isles and need to find ways to bury goals.
Hall and Marchand are players that thrived against the Islanders during the regular season. They’ll need to continue to punish the Isles if Boston wants to advance to the next round.