I feel as though this pairing is an age old tried and true snack or even lunch option, but I never see people utilizing it. Being honest, I probably eat this for dinner once a week, lunch once a week and as a snack once or twice a week. To be fair, I love raw peppers, so it is a no-brainer choice for me.
There are roughly 43 calories in a red pepper, 24 calories in a green pepper, 50 calories in a yellow pepper.
1 pepper (pick your favorite color, I personally can’t get enough red), quartered and de-seeded
3 tablespoons whipped cream cheese
Dill or seasoning of your choice
Directions
Evenly spread the cream cheese across the inside of the pepper.
Lightly sprinkle dill or seasoning of your choice on each pepper piece.
Lindy Ruff had been rotating his goaltenders during the regular season, so the Dallas Stars’ starter for game one of the playoffs against the Minnesota Wild could go either way.
Ruff chose to start Kari Lehtonen over Antti Niemi in the crease and that has worked out for the Stars in the first two games of the series so far. Lehtonen has carried his strong end of the season play into the postseason. He was 8-1-0 in his last nine regular season games played where he had a 1.68 goals against average to go with a .935 save percentage. The goalie’s strong play helped the Stars to win the Central Division over the St. Louis Blues and avoid facing the defending champions, Chicago Blackhawks, in the first round.
In the first two games of the series, Lehtonen is 2-0-0 having faced only 48 shots while allowing only one goal. The goalie has a 0.50 goals against average, a .979 save percentage and one shutout in the postseason. In his previous eight postseason games, Lehtonen had a record of 2-6 to go with a 3.88 goals against average and a .874 save percentage.
In game one, he only faced 22 shots and none of them got passed him. In game two, he faced 26 shots against but did have to make a couple of critical saves at the end of the second period. Charlie Coyle and Mikko Koivu had some chances with 2.4 seconds left in the second period, but Lehtonen made the saves to protect the Stars 1-0 leading entering the final period. The Wild finally solved Lehtonen in the third period of game two on a power play to bring the score to 2-1 in favor of Dallas. The goal by Marco Scandella ended a 112:42 playoff shutout streak for Lehtonen.
Lehtonen was busy in the third period as the Stars were outshot 8-4 in the final period in game two. The goalie has been making the saves that need to be made and is square to the shooters. He also seems to be tracking the puck well in the series so far. Lehtonen has only had to face 48 shots through two games so he has also gotten some help from the players in front of him whether they are blocking shots or just being in good position so the Wild can’t get the shots through to him. Minnesota is without one of its top forwards in Zach Parise, who is out with an injury.
The Stars may have a 2-0 lead in the series, but the Wild will look to take full advantage of home ice for the next two games. The Wild will looks to use the energy from its home crowd to try cut the Stars’ series lead in half.
The Wells Fargo Center will be electric and emotional at the same time. The fans will be its usual rowdy self since they haven’t seen playoff hockey in two years. The building will also have an emotional side to it since Philadelphia will be paying tribute to its former owner Ed Snider, who passed away last week at the age of 83. The Orange and Black have been wearing patches in his honor and teams around the NHL have been paying tribute with a moment of silence.
If the Flyers want to have a chance to get back into this series then the offense needs to show up and in a big way. The Orange and Black have one goal through two full games and that came from Jake Voracek in the second period of game two. Voracek’s goal came during four on four play after Nick Cousins and Andre Burakovsky each went to the penalty box for 2:00 for roughing. The team has had its chances but they either can’t finish or Braden Holtby has been there to make the save.
Philadelphia needs to get more traffic in front of the Capitals’ goalie. They have had some traffic in and around the net but not enough to take away Holtby’s eyes. On some of the shots that they’ve taken there has been a player just cruising through the crease looking for a rebound, and not standing in front of the goalie trying to distract him. The Flyers did a good job in the first period of game two of getting through the neutral zone with speed, which needs to continue in game three. The Orange and Black will need to get in on the forecheck and try to create more plays from down behind the net.
The Flyers will be able to get the matchups that they want in game three since they’re the home team and have last change. If they want to get Claude Giroux, Voracek and Wayne Simmonds away from the Ovechkin line then Dave Hakstol has that option. Philadelphia also needs to be more physical especially with Alex Ovechkin, who has been throwing his weight around in the series so far. The only three Flyers to have points in the series are Voracek, Brayden Schenn and rookie Shayne Gostisbehere. Sam Gagner has looked good in the first playoff series of his career and has created some chances.
The Orange and Black will need to feed off the home crowd and get some goals early since the Capitals tend to get better as the game goes on.
With a 3-2 win Friday night, the Blackhawks will head back to Chicago tied 1-1 in their best-of-seven series against the Blues. What started out fast-paced and evenly-matched as usual for the rivals turned into temper tantrums when goal reviews didn’t favor the home team–allowing the Blackhawks to capitalize and close.
Recap, reviews, reasoning
The first period was quiet save for a fruitless power play apiece. The Blackhawks only got two shots to the net while St. Louis managed seven.
But, with just under five minutes left in the second period, Michal Rozsival was wrangled into one of the worst kinds of turnovers–one that gets Vladimir Tarasenko the puck. Jori Lehtera wrestled the puck from Rozsival to Jaden Schwartz who fed Tarasenko for a top-shelf shot from the slot.
It wouldn’t take the Hawks long to answer, though. With about five seconds left before second intermission, Duncan Keith knotted the score with a one-timer from the blue line fed by Patrick Kane off a faceoff win by Captain Jonathan Toews with Andrew Shaw screening goalie Brian Elliott.
And then the third period happened.
First, Andrew Ladd and Robby Fabbri would serve offsetting minors for a crosscheck and embellishment on the oversell, respectively, about about halfway through the period.
Told referee on ice accused Fabbri of “Folding like a card table”. One of oddest calls ever. Negated #stlblues PP https://t.co/7pb3mQXZtW
Fabbri and the Blues were very unhappy with the call. They’d become even angrier by the next two.
Lehtera hustled after a puck chipped up the boards and passed it from the back of the net to Tarasenko, who fired it past goalie Corey Crawford for the apparent go-ahead goal with 7:46 left in regulation. But, the Blackhawks bench thought the play was offside. And, so did their video crew. So, Coach Joel Quenneville jumped on the boards to call a challenge.
After about 4-1/2 minutes of review, which now includes the benefit of blue line camera angles, the goal was overturned because Lehtera did not have a skate on the blue line when the puck passed the line.
NHL senior director of hockey operations Kay Whitmore said on NHL.com that, had the NHL not instituted blue-line cameras for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it is likely that the replays would have been inconclusive, which would have meant a good goal for Tarasenko.
“The blue-line cameras situated right on the blue line gives you a true sight line of what’s actually happening,” Whitmore said of determining whether Lehtera’s skate entered the offensive zone before the puck. “Without those cameras, this would have been a tough call to make. You could probably say that the skate might have been in, but if there’s any doubt on the ice, then the original call has to stand.”
Whitmore said further:
“I think the initial purpose of an offside challenge was to rid the game of egregious calls where a player is a foot or two offside, but you can’t just do those one. If it’s offside, it’s offside, and this one was millimeters offside.
You just have to have as much technology as possible once you institute a rule like this. I think, like I said, there will be a debate probably for a long time [from] hockey purists about whether the intent of this rule was to take down goals like this, but maybe that’s a discussion for another day.
Did that skate in the air, does it have a real effect on what happened after that? You can argue that all day, but the rule is, it’s always been, you have to have your skate on the ice crossing the blue line. Until there’s a rule change, this is the way it’s going to have to be.”
Obviously riled up by the turn of events, Tarasenko slashed Shaw hard enough in their next shift together to shatter his stick. Despite attempts to refute the penalty, the evidence, again, was clear, and the Blackhawks had another power play.
So, with a man-advantage 4:19 left, Shaw set up shop near the net to screen and shook off a cross-check from Elliott before Kane passed to Brent Seabrook, who shot to the net for Shaw to rebound the puck past Elliott’s pads before being shoved into the goalie in what become a netfront melee. The goal was automatically reviewed to make sure the puck passed the goal line.
But then, Blues Coach Ken Hitchcock called for a challenge, calling for goaltender interference.
After nearly another 4-1/2 minutes, review confirmed a good goal–that Elliott was able to play his position and wasn’t touched until after the puck crossed the line, and then only so as a result of his own teammates’ shoving Shaw.
“What I felt I’d seen originally was pretty much confirmed on the overhead, that Shaw, he gets it with his hand, then reaches out after it goes off the side, makes a play on the puck,” Referee Dan O’Rourke said. “The contact is after the puck goes in, and it’s also with the help of [Blues defenseman Kevin] Shattenkirk pushing him.
“That’s how I felt I saw it on the ice, then also what was confirmed by the overall play at full speed, and then also the overhead really helped.”
Now down by one, the Blues pulled their goalie with about two minutes left to play.
Keith passed the puck to Artemi Panarin, who shot toward the empty net from his defensive zone with just enough oomph to beat the chasing Blues for a 3-1 lead.
But the Blues wouldn’t give up without a fight. With just two seconds left, Shattenkirk fired a shot off a Captain David Backes faceoff win for 3-2 score.
Alas, Chicago would walk away with the victory. They were outshot 31-29. They were outhit 41-25. (That’s right, the Blues fell short of Hitch’s proposed 70 by 29.) But the Hawks led faceoff wins 36-28, and they kept their composure.
The Blues didn’t leave it behind to finish the game or after.
Challenges and Conspiracies
In the postgame, Hitchcock accused the NHL of favoring the Blackhawks as last year’s champions:
“When you play the defending Cup champions you’re going to have to fight through a lot. Calls aren’t going to go your way. We’re playing a champion that’s the way it is. Tie goes to the runner.”
The attitude didn’t end with him, either. Even goaltender Elliott, who stopped 26 of 28 shots, criticized the officiating.
Elliott: ” I don’t know what the rules are anymore. Every play is so different. It’s up to the refs on the ice that makes the calls.
“In Game 1, we had a good bounce to win a game,” he said of Backes’ Game One overtime winner. “Everything kind of finds a way to balance out.
“Everyone’s been there before. It’s not a young team here. We have experienced guys and that’s what happens in a playoff series. There’s highs and lows. If you worry too much about it, those are the teams that will be unsuccessful.”
The Blackhawks are no stranger to overturned goals at pivotal times.
Marian Hossa had a goal overturned this year with for the skate-off-the-ice offside rule.
In the Western Conference Semifinals in 2013, Niklas Hjalmarsson had a goal waved off because of coincidental minors far off from the play.
“In the playoffs, you have to have a short memory,” Hjalmarsson told the SunTimes. “You have to be able to keep playing the same way. You can’t let those moments get you off track, and focus too much on the refs and stuff like that.”
And, Toews had a goal overturned in Game One of the Western Conference Final in 2014 when he was tripped at the net, despite every effort to avoid Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.
But teams move on.
“In the playoffs, it’s a lot about momentum,” Hossa said. “We got a break, the new [challenge] rule finally worked out for us. We got a great challenge and the game basically changed.”
As for the time it takes to make the call, no one seemed to be particularly happy.
“It’s not easy,” Toews told media after the game. “It definitely is frustrating for both teams to have to wait that long. If we’re going to get the bounce we’ll wait as long as we have to, I guess. There’s no doubt that to a certain degree it takes a little bit away from the energy in the building.”
Back to Chicago
The Hawks should return excited to have taken one on the road and ready to make this a home ice advantage with their 2 p.m. start Sunday.
Crawford made 29 of 31 saves in Game Two, breaking a franchise record.
Corey Crawford now has the most postseason wins in #Blackhawks history with 46, passing Tony Esposito. #HawksTalk
He’ll need to maintain that poise at home, and the crowds should only benefit him.
They should try their best to work special teams and get their power play back to regular season condition. And, they’ll have to work the puck close to the net–using screener/deflector/rebounder/agitator Shaw. Cycling and shooting has only led to 32 total blocked shots from St. Louis in the first two games. But, putting pressure near the crease gave them their two occupied-net goals Friday.
“Absolutely huge momentum shift,” Kane told The Athletic. “You talk about goals in the first minutes of periods and goals in the last minute. To have a faceoff with 7 seconds left, (Toews) wins a draw, we get it back to Duncs and he made a great shot, but the whole play doesn’t happen if Shawzie doesn’t go to the net. Couple big plays by Shawzie tonight. Just standing in front, he gets rewarded with a goal and screens the goalie on the other one. We need more of that as the series goes on.”
They have to make a statement and come out on top.
Because it’s the Cup.
Remaining Schedule
Game 3: St. Louis at Chicago 2:00 p.m. CT Sunday, April 17, NBC, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
Game 4: St. Louis at Chicago 8:30 p.m. CT Tuesday, April 19, NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVA Sportsnet
Game 5: Chicago at St. Louis 8:30 p.m. CT Thursday, April 21, CSN-CH, TBA
Game 6: St. Louis at Chicago, Saturday, April 23, if needed, TBA
Game 7: Chicago at St. Louis, Monday, April 25, if needed, TBA
The Nashville Predators drew the Anaheim Ducks for the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
The way the Ducks were playing the first month and a half of the regular season, people were thinking that head coach Bruce Boudreau would be fired. Boudreau wasn’t fired and the Ducks turned things around to win the Pacific Division. In the final 56 games, Anaheim was 34-14-6 and racked up 78 points, while only having a record of 8-11-5 (21 points) in its first 24 games. The Predators had its struggles this season, but fought through them to make the playoffs. Nashville was 24-18-8 with 56 points through 50 games played before the All-Star Break, and went 17-8-6 with 40 points in the final two months of the season.
The Preds enter the postseason relatively healthy, while the late start to the series has helped the Ducks get healthy. Rickard Rakell and David Perron were able to use the time to rest up and practice. They will be in the lineup for game one, while Kevin Bieksa could start the series on the ice or in the pressbox. Bieksa is a game time decision, according to the team’s Twitter account.
Anaheim could barely score to start the season, but finished in the middle of the pack, averaging 2.62 goals for per game played on the season. Six Ducks had ten or more goals with more than one line pitching in on the offensive side of things. Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler lead the way on offense for the Ducks, but Rakell had a breakout season (20 goals, 23 assists and 43 points). Rakell will be the player the Predators will need to pay attention to in this series. Nashville had eight players score ten or more goals including two score 30 or more. The offense is led to Filip Forsberg and James Neal, but they will need the contributions from all of its players and balanced scoring if they want to win this series. Ryan Johansen could be a difference maker for Nashville on offense.
Nashville could possibly have the deepest defensive corps in the entire NHL, which is led by Shea Weber and Roman Josi. The Preds defensemen aren’t afraid to join the rush and be aggressive in the offensive zone, but they also have some stay-at-home guys. Josi finished the season with 61 points, which set a record for most points by a Predators’ defenseman in a season. The defense will be the x-factor for Nashville in both their own end and the offensive zone. Anaheim has a solid blueline in front of its goalies led by Kevin Bieksa and Sami Vatanen. The Ducks blue liners are mobile and can be physical, if needed. Anaheim gave up the fewest goals against in the league and the goalies, Anaheim’s x-factor in this series, had a lot to do with that.
John Gibson and Frederick Andersen split the season in goal, and when one was injured, the other stepped up and filled in nicely. Gibson was 21-13-4 in 40 games with a 2.07 goals against average, .920 save percentage and had four shutouts. Andersen made an appearance in 43 games going 22-9-7 with a 2.30 goals against average, .919 save percentage and three shutouts. Pekka Rinne had a decent season for the Predators even with his struggles. He was 34-21-10 in 66 games with a 2.48 goals against average, .908 save percentage and four shutouts. Rinne will need to be sharp especially with his rebound control since Anaheim will have guys looking for the loose pucks in the crease area.
The special teams edge clearly goes to the Ducks since they had the best power play and penalty kill in the league this year. The Predators had the 10th best power play and the 16th best penalty kill. Nashville needs to play a disciplined game and stay out of the penalty box if they want to make this a long series. The Preds power play will need to find a way to capitalize on its opportunities when given the chance.
The Ducks goaltending will come up big when called upon, but the Predators will find a way to keep this a series. Anaheim still wins the series in six games.
Couturier took a hit in the second period of game one from Capitals’ forward Alex Ovechkin and he went into the boards shoulder first. Couturier managed to clear the puck out of harm’s way, but then went right off the ice and to the Flyers locker room. He didn’t return for the rest of the game. The Flyers lost the game 2-0, but managed to stay in the game even with the Capitals getting better as the game went on.
Couturier had played a full 82-game schedule the previous two seasons, but missed 18 games this season. The center was injured on three separate occasions this season. He was out from 10/24-11/3 due to an upper body injury that was suffered after he was hit up high by Zac Rinaldo. Couturier was then out from 1/21-1/27 when he missed three games due to a lower body injury. He then missed nine games from 2/6-2/20 with a lower body injury. The Flyers were a dismal 5-9-4 during the 18 games that he missed due to injury this year.
He had 11 goals, 28 assists, and 39 points despite only playing in 63 regular season games. The 39 points tied a career high set during the 2013-14 season while playing a full 82-game schedule. The 28 assists set a new career high with 26 being his previous high set during the 2013-14 season. The center averaged 18:36 of ice time during the regular season.
He is the best defensive forward on the team, which is why he’s almost always matched up against the opposing team’s top line and player. The forward made major strides on the offensive side of his game and even looked more comfortable with the puck on his stick. The center had the responsibility of running the second power play from the half boards, where he had seven points (two goals, five assists). He added a game winning goal, a short-handed assist and 119 shots this year.
The Orange and Black will miss Couturier in the lineup, but they need to have a “next man up” attitude. Scott Laughton, a 21-year-old rookie, could be the next man and making his NHL Playoffs debut at the same time. Laughton is a natural center but can also play the wing, if needed. Brayden Schenn could also fill Couturier’s spot at center since he can play either center or wing as well. If Laughton enters the lineup, he could slide right in and take over some of the penalty killing duties for the injured Couturier since Dave Hakstol has used him in that situation this season.
There could also be options on the power play with either Michael Raffl or rookie Nick Cousins taking Couturier’s spot. Cousins could slide right into Couturier’s spot and run the power play from the half wall. If Raffl is the replacement on the power play than Sam Gagner could take Couturier’s place along the wall and Raffl be the man in the slot with Ryan White in front of the net. Another option would be to break up the struggling first power play unit and put Brayden Schenn down on the second unit and slide Raffl to the first unit.
If the Flyers want to keep pace with the Capitals in this series then the whole team will have to step up and try to fill the skates of Couturier.
For the fifth consecutive season, the Blackhawks‘ first postseason game went to overtime. Unfortunately for the visiting team, a Blues‘ blooper goal set them back 0-1 in the playoff series about halfway through the first OT period.
“Sometimes it just comes down to a bounce,” Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews said. “We didn’t get it tonight. But what are you going to do? You can’t dwell on that for too long. I think you take what you can from it and use the motivating factors in finding that emotion and playing better the next game. We’ll do that and focus on the next one.”
Otherwise the game was held by the two goalies.
The Blues’ Brian Elliott earned a 35-save shutout holding down five power plays including one five-on-three by the regular season second-place unit, halting a Toews and Patrick Kane two-on-one, and snatching a shot from a rushing Artemi Panarin with just over five minutes left in regulation.
Crawford stopped 17 of 18 shots, including knocking away a redirect from Kyle Brodziak in the first and scrambled to stop the tic-tac-oh-no of a Colton Parayko shot to Jaden Schwartz and off Blackhawks defenseman Viktor Svedberg sequence.
“It’s unfortunate,” Toews said, “because we feel we had a lot of chances throughout that game to try and at least get the upper hand or distance ourselves in that one and we didn’t quite get a goal.
“At the end of the day, it’s a tough game to come in and play, the first game of the playoffs in their building. I think we did a lot of good things. Unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted.”
Strategy
The Blues played regular season hockey Wednesday night. Their primal instinct to hit–outnumbering the Hawks 41-24–left them down in shots 35-18.
Their strategy was deliver hits, primarily at the Hawks’ depleted defense.
In postgame Wednesday, Coach Ken Hitchcock said the Blues’ 41 hits weren’t enough.
“We’re going to have to get that it into the 70s,’’ he said. “We passed on hits because of the pace.’’
It is important to note the Blackhawks don’t have the same defense as last year, but they do prioritize puck possession and know that the force of delivering a hit takes a toll on a body as well.
Shattenkirk: “You don’t want to run around trying to take guys’ heads off. But when there’s a chance to get a lick in,, you want to do it.”
If Game One is any indication, despite nine power plays, officials have a “let them play” approach when it comes to cross-checks and hits, so the Hawks will have to be prepared to absorb and not retaliate.
What’s next
It won’t be surprising for the shot versus hit numbers to remain the same for the series. And that will put the Blackhawks at an advantage with the return of Duncan Keith, as long as he maintains composure with a team reputed for getting under skin.
He deserved that punishment, but it certainly hurt his teammates and he has something to prove when he comes back.
“Guys have taken runs at me. You deal with it. Kaner deals with it very well. Not the biggest guy, but try to find a way to get through that, do what you have to do and play your game. Don’t focus on those type of things. Focus is on the game, competing,” Keith said. “When it comes to the suspension, that’s something I can be in control of and need to do and be smart about that.”
Since February, the Blackhawks have lost 13 straight games to Western Conference teams. It isn’t exactly a confidence booster going into Game Two.
They’ll need to utilize Keith’s skill set and minutes for defense. He’ll likely be paired with Niklas Hjalmarsson, who was a shot-blocking machine in Game One. More than once he hobbled off the ice in pain only to return for the next shift.
“It looks like you need five stretchers on the bench and he just gets back up,” Hitchcock said of Hjalmarsson.
Goals
The Hawks need to turn on the offense. They’ll have to go for gritty goals with all that puck possession to get past the Blues’ shot blockers.
“I think we played a really good road game, one of our better games in a long time,” Hjalmarsson told the SunTimes. “So I think we’re all pretty happy with the way we played [in Game 1]. We could’ve scored some goals too, but we’re playing a good team and we know that.
“They have four really, really solid lines and three really solid d-pairings–so we’re going to have to work hard and get our goals.”
Toews, who tied his playoff high seven shots on goal, noted that the team had plenty of chances to score against Elliott, but couldn’t deliver against the solid netminder. He prioritized keeping the goalie as busy as possible.
“We’ve done it before. We just have to focus on that a little bit more. I think all four lines can generate a little bit more around the net,” he said. “We know it’s only going to get tougher. We have to raise our game. But for the most part, it’s an effort we can build on.”
Shaw and Hossa are alleged to be playing through injuries that had them sitting for the end of the regular season.
This isn’t time to push a panic button, but if there is a “power” button, or “turbo boost,” or one of those pull-strings somewhere, someone should probably switch/push/pull.
Or maybe Kane should just do the darn mullet already. Sorry, bud, but your flow game isn’t that strong, anyway. Take one for the team.
Game 1 between the New York Islanders and the Florida Panthers was surrounded with story lines, mostly about who was not in the line up for New York and whether they could keep pace with the young and energetic Panthers. Luckily, John Tavares was both in the lineup and ready to carry his team to a wild 5-4 road win and a 1-0 lead in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Islanders began the game with some notable absences including Anders Lee and Mikhail Grabovski, a beat up Travis Hamonic and a goalie in Thomas Greiss who had done anything but instill confidence in replacing the injured Jaroslav Halak over the last month of the season. Things got off to a rocky start when Jiri Hudler fed Teddy Purcell after a bad read by Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuck just 1:55 into the game. With the inexperienced lineup, the one thing the Islanders could ill-afford was poor play from their playoff veterans and the whiff on Hudler by Boychuck suggested a long night was in store for the visitors. However, about 5 minutes later, Boychuck redeemed himself by jumping Hudler in the neutral zone allowing Ryan Strome to feed a cutting Brock Nelson who rifled one by Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo, tying the game at 1.
Greiss made a handful of clumsy yet crucial saves during a wave by the Panthers. But while the Islanders veterans were struggling to find their game, two of the Panthers’ old guys combined for a power play goal when Jussi Jokinen deflected Brian Campbell‘s point shot for a 2-1 Panthers lead. That’s when the Islanders captain took control.
First, it was a coast to coast rush with two wonderful dekes and a fake shot to turn the Panthers defense in circles, before feeding Frans Neilsen for the goal with a couple minutes left in the first period. Then after an early goal in the second by Florida’s Reilly Smith, Neilsen forced a turnover on the forecheck, getting the puck to Kyle Okposo who found Tavares on the door step to tie the game at 3 with under a minute left before the break. All of this following a scary moment where Tavares left the Islanders bench momentarily after taking a shot to the back of the ankle and limping off the ice.
The Islanders were glad that #91 returned as he continued to exude energy, leading an excellent forecheck that eventually gave the Islanders their first lead of the game. Tavares’ tireless pressure eventually forced a turnover from Campbell, setting up Okposo to give the Islanders a 4-3 lead. His team began to follow along as Nick Leddy took a massive hit but got a pass to rookie Alan Quine who made a nifty move into the offensive zone before getting a shot off allowing Strome to put home the rebound and extend the lead to 5-3.
Greiss gave up one more goal to Jokinen but by then it seemed like the Islanders had found their legs and kept the Panthers at bay for most of the third period. The Panthers had a glorious opportunity with Luongo pulled when the ageless wonder, Jaromir Jagr, found himself on the doorstep but was stuffed by Greiss.
Greiss finished the game with 42 saves, not always looking comfortable, but making saves when his team required them. However, the story was always going to be John Tavares, who was named the #1 Star of the Game with a goal, two assists and winning almost 70% of his face offs in addition to the intangibles he brought to the ice. The Islanders are going to be in any series with Tavares leading the charge, and it will be imperative for Florida to find a way to stop him if they want to move on to the second round. The teams go back-to-back, playing Game 2 on Friday night at the BB&T Center.
Prev
