Post-Series Talk: Carolina Hurricanes defeat the New York Islanders, 4-1

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Kuzy’s PS goal 10.6 seconds

Game 2, goals 3 & 4 9 seconds apart
Game 5, goals 4 & 5 8 seconds apart

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Another series vs the piles where they get an uncalled slash that injured a Canes player

Last time Turbo, this time TDA

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

As far as the series goes, they were all tight, close games. A little more puck luck and it could be a different story. But the cream rises to the top and the better team is moving on. Rangers-Canes should be fun to watch.

 

[Olliemets]

lol

No offense, but I don't think the current Islanders are the type of team that will ever be in a position where they can "afford to lose games on purpose in the final week" while still making the playoffs.

You might make the playoffs again next year but odds are you do so as a wildcard fighting tooth and nail until end of season to qualify.

As a neutral fan outsider - I was kind of shocked to see Sorokin benched in this series. I've always like Varlamov, and think he mostly did well in this round - but still, people around the league have been calling Sorokin a top ~3 goalie in the league for a couple of years now. Kind of shocking to see him not get the starts. I know he played bad the one game, but still. For Islanders to win this series, you'd have needed your goalie to steal a couple of games at least.

Sorokin has been sub par, especially following the December break. IMO, after a Vezina type season last year he played decently to start this season. I think he just wilted under the barrage of shots he saw nightly, to the point where his confidence was shaken. Going with Varlomov was the correct move, for those who watched this entire season. Sorokin was a disaster in game 3 and was rightfully yanked.

Aside from a big roster overhaul, the other priority is to get him back on track. Sorokin is signed for the next 7 years (8?). Hoping that a full camp and seson uner Roy stabalizes him.

Besides not having the horses, There was zero structure unnder Lambert. Under Roy that changed to the extend possible jumping in midstream. Wait til next years.

Congratulations Canes.

 

[BB88]

Islanders need to rebuild/retool in the worst way

This is just their ceiling and no team should be built that way. You either are a contender or trying to build a contender, they are neither

 

[nyrallday]

This is largely why NYR went balls to the wall in those last few games, they wanted no part of the Isles who were a much greater physical threat than the Caps/Pens were.

What? Lmao

 

[Mike C]

Islanders need to rebuild/retool in the worst way

This is just their ceiling and no team should be built that way. You either are a contender or trying to build a contender, they are neither

they are very flawed and so far away from being a contender. their defensemen chronically get out hustled to the puck then out muscled in their own zone. sorokin has elite ability with a mentally weak constitution. they have pretty good front line except very few can finish around the net and even fewer can create of the dribble to use a basketball expression, thus essentially making most of their f/c pretty much the same guy more or less

reilly was an excellent find, roy a great hire.


kudos to carolina....they blanketed barzal and horvat where they were close to invisible the great majority of the series. i'm reading a lot of isles fans say dobson was hurt. i've been following sports since the late 60s and worked in the field back in the day. come this time of year, every player and every team is banged, nicked, bruised battered and hobbled. if you suit up, you're healthy. i don't buy into excuses. it's all about one thing and one thing only. winning or losing

What? Lmao

matt rempe says hi

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

they are very flawed and so far away from being a contender. their defensemen chronically get out hustled to the puck then out muscled in their own zone. sorokin has elite ability with a mentally weak constitution. they have pretty good front line except very few can finish around the net and even fewer can create of the dribble to use a basketball expression, thus essentially making most of their f/c pretty much the same guy more or less

reilly was an excellent find, roy a great hire.


kudos to carolina....they blanketed barzal and horvat where they were close to invisible the great majority of the series. i'm reading a lot of isles fans say dobson was hurt. i've been following sports since the late 60s and worked in the field back in the day. come this time of year, every player and every team is banged, nicked, bruised battered and hobbled. if you suit up, you're healthy. i don't buy into excuses. it's all about one thing and one thing only. winning or losing


matt rempe says hi

I think the Islanders have a lot of good young(ish) building blocks in place, but they need some more high end talent upfront. Horvat and Barzal are good pieces but not elite. Guys like Nelson, Palmieri, Lee are good secondary options but you're bang on with the take of shutting down the top two guys and there's not much there to break through. Isles played hard and the goals they scored were due to hustle and strong net-front. That's the way they are set up but that's just not enough to go far.

I think once some of the more expensive depth pieces have their contracts expire or maybe they can be traded out Isles could go big game hunting and do some damage.

In a way they are built not too differently from how the Canes were the last few years but the offensive talent on the Canes has steadily improved as young players like Svech, Jarvis, Necas developed and then Aho has taken another step and adding guys like Guentzel and Kuzy obviously help as well. The big difference is that the Canes blueline has always been stacked to mitigate lower scoring from the forwards and RBA's coaching style gets 100% buy in on playing a relentless forechecking game so even if there is a disparity in talent, the Canes can still compete with any team in the league.

The metro was weak to a degree this year but it wouldn't shock me to see it become a powerhouse again like it was last year if NJ and NYI make some moves.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

Islanders, especially one removes fighting penalties w/o instigators from the mix, have been consistently bottom of the PIM list for a very long time now. So people can keep saying that, and they can keep on saying it despite the evidence. I didn't see the second slash you are noting (the one on TT last year was a pretty unfortunate result of it happening during a shot follow through). But one alternate hypothesis, that perhaps the Canes should look at their player's choices of gloves, rather than the Islanders being especially dirty, is just as reasonable.

Is this another "unfortunate result from a follow through"?

 

[Brad Meador]

Is this another "unfortunate result from a follow through"?

Ah, thank you. Was wondering how he got injured.

To me that did not look intentional at all. Both just going for the puck and can't zoom in enough to know for sure if it was a follow through or an intentional act since it happened on the other side of the ice.

 

[saintunspecified]

Is this another "unfortunate result from a follow through"?

It's a slash, for sure. Should've been called. An attempt to injure? Idk. Seemed pretty similar to the Svech slash on Reilly. Both should have been called, and only one was. I'll give you that. Dirty? If you think NYI are dirty, I wish you thoughts and prayers if you ever play Florida.

 

[GIN ANTONIC]

Ah, thank you. Was wondering how he got injured.

To me that did not look intentional at all. Both just going for the puck and can't zoom in enough to know for sure if it was a follow through or an intentional act since it happened on the other side of the ice.

What is it the follow through of? He intentionally slashed at TDA stick. I wouldn't accuse him of intentionally going for the hand or wrist but he likely went for the stick and missed. It's a bad result of a reckless type play. The slash wasn't an accident, not hitting the stick was the accident.

It's a slash, for sure. Should've been called. An attempt to injure? Idk. Seemed pretty similar to the Svech slash on Reilly. Both should have been called, and only one was. I'll give you that. Dirty? If you think NYI are dirty, I wish you thoughts and prayers if you ever play Florida.

It's more reckless than dirty. I don't think he's intentionally slashing TDA's hand but as you mentioned he's intentionally slashing up high on the stick. When you do that, sometimes you miss and hit the hand or wrist. It's not dirty exactly but it's also not necessary to do that. Slash lower and if you miss no big deal.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

It's a slash, for sure. Should've been called. An attempt to injure? Idk. Seemed pretty similar to the Svech slash on Reilly. Both should have been called, and only one was. I'll give you that. Dirty? If you think NYI are dirty, I wish you thoughts and prayers if you ever play Florida.

You'd get the benefit of a doubt if there wasn't history of doing the same thing last year. Once is a coincidence. Twice is a pattern.

 

[BMOK33]

What? Lmao

They clearly upped their level the final week once they saw that matchup was becoming a realistic possibility. They've had the Rangers number now for 2-3 seasons. I cannot imagine they wanted that matchup in R1, you cannot control what happens beyond that but ensuring they got PHI/WSH/PIT seemed a priority those last 2-3 games. I felt the Rangers did not show that level for a good 4-6 weeks up til then, its never good to play a rival opponent in R1 anyhow. This is why most of the time in the past when geographic rivals meet in R1 the winner rarely wins the cup, the 94 Rangers were a remarkable example of a team who survived 2 of those series but they were so experienced its not a surprise

 

[nyrallday]

They clearly upped their level the final week once they saw that matchup was becoming a realistic possibility. They've had the Rangers number now for 2-3 seasons. I cannot imagine they wanted that matchup in R1, you cannot control what happens beyond that but ensuring they got PHI/WSH/PIT seemed a priority those last 2-3 games. I felt the Rangers did not show that level for a good 4-6 weeks up til then.

You think the Rangers were afraid of the Islanders?

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Islanders are a flawed team but Carolina might just be a powerhouse.

 

[BMOK33]

You think the Rangers were afraid of the Islanders?

The roster was not, Laviolette/Drury I am sure were...I think afraid is the wrong word but probably PREFERRED to not meet them in the first round. I posted the Neil Smith interview from 95 where he said he and Keenan spoke about 7 days before the season ended in 94 and were extremely concerned about the mental/physical toll a series with NYI might bring if they got in. Keenan told him he would ensure the team did not get involved in anything that would cause fights/increased physical toll. I think that is the concern, its more mental/physical wear, Smith never said he felt they'd lose the series, but that it might come back to bit them 2-3 rounds later

 

[TGWL]

This is largely why NYR went balls to the wall in those last few games, they wanted no part of the Isles who were a much greater physical threat than the Caps/Pens were.

They went 2-2 their last 4 games...

 

[nyrallday]

The roster was not, Laviolette/Drury I am sure were...I think afraid is the wrong word but probably PREFERRED to not meet them in the first round. I posted the Neil Smith interview from 95 where he said he and Keenan spoke about 7 days before the season ended in 94 and were extremely concerned about the mental/physical toll a series with NYI might bring if they got in. Keenan told him he would ensure the team did not get involved in anything that would cause fights/increased physical toll. I think that is the concern, its more mental/physical wear, Smith never said he felt they'd lose the series, but that it might come back to bit them 2-3 rounds later

They swept the Islanders that year...this year they were in the lead for the Presidents Trophy and Carolina was behind them for 1st. What in the world are you talking about? You think the Rangers gave a shit about the Islanders at all?

 

[BMOK33]

They swept the Islanders that year...this year they were in the lead for the Presidents Trophy and Carolina was behind them for 1st. What in the world are you talking about? You think the Rangers gave a shit about the Islanders at all?

You do realize the mental energy/physical energy expended in a rivalry series is way different than say a series where NYR or NYI plays say Columbus or Detroit? Thats the difference, you do not want to mentally kill yourself in R1 by having suspensions/off ice press conference arguments about dirty hits etc...thats how you get burned out. the 94 team was way more experienced and seasoned than this team is. I am not sure this team handles that type of thing as well and this series would have gone 6-7 too

 

[nyrallday]

You do realize the mental energy/physical energy expended in a rivalry series is way different than say a series where NYR or NYI plays say Columbus or Detroit? Thats the difference, you do not want to mentally kill yourself in R1 by having suspensions/off ice press conference arguments about dirty hits etc...thats how you get burned out. the 94 team was way more experienced and seasoned than this team is.

Washington has 2 of the biggest douchebags in the league with Oshie and Wilson. Not to mention Ovechkin is a douche too. Rangers handled them well. You're reaching like crazy and making up all kinds of assumptions in your head and trying to make them a reality.

 

[saintunspecified]

You'd get the benefit of a doubt if there wasn't history of doing the same thing last year. Once is a coincidence. Twice is a pattern.

Ah, patterns, like 2, 4 is the pattern of even numbers greater than 0 or the first two non-zero exponents of 2 or first two rolls of a 4 sided die, or a 6 sided die, or any friggin kind of dice.

But if you think NYI is especially dirty, good luck! I'm sure easy resentment will work nicely in case of disappointment.

 

[Doshell Propivo]

What Engvall did there happens dozens of times a game, even more so in the playoffs. Sometimes it's called, sometimes not. Rarely does it result in injury.

If actually given a choice, Capitals or Isles in round 1, I can see the Rangers maybe preferring the Caps and avoiding the whole rivalry thing. But I doubt they spent much time thinking about it let alone having it dictate the way they played the last few regular season games. It's the playoffs. You expect every game to be emotional and intense.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

If the Rangers ramped it up at the end, it was because the Canes pushed really hard, getting to within a point of the division on April 12 (2 games left to play).

No one feared the Islanders. C’mon.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

What Engvall did there happens dozens of times a game,

Which is the actual problem

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Which is the actual problem

It's a rough game.