saintunspecified
Registered User
- Nov 30, 2017
- 6,054
- 4,350
Islanders "heavy game" isn't really a thing anymore.The pressure is on carolina especially with the expectations of their fans and the statbois. The islanders just need to play their long forgotten heavy game and make carolina beat them by skill and by outworking them. It may not be as easy a ride as some are predicting but carolina should come out on top.
Canes have the pieces and play style to dominate this. Their mobility and skill on D matches up well vs NYI's poor defensive wing play. A big part of the Islanders resurgence has come from Kyle MacLean becoming the 4th line center, allowing Cizikas to move up the lineup as a winger. NYI's top line is 3 natural centers, which shows how much they lack for good wingers. The wild card for nyi is engvall - he's going to have to find a new level for NYI to keep play close to even on more than one line. He has the tools, but we know how that goes. Dobson not being healthy is, for me, mostly affects NYI's PP. He's looked run down before the injury the last third of the season, a consequence imo of overuse.
Will guess canes in 6, but also that it doesn't feel that close.