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The regular season has concluded and the Islanders are off on their quest for the Stanley Cup. The first opponents standing in their way are the Washington Capitals. Washington barely beat out the Islanders for home ice advantage on the last game of the season as the Islanders had a chance but fell in a shootout to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
[Leave FIG Picks here before puck drop.]
The playoff series appears to be a contest between two teams that are going in opposite directions. The Islanders have had six wins, seven losses and five overtime or shootout losses since March first putting them at 21st in points percentage since then. The Capitals finished up their season with ten wins, six losses and one overtime or shootout loss putting them at tenth in the league in points percentage since that time period.
The Islanders have the statistical advantage when it comes to possession. They're the second best possession team in the East after the Lightning which should give them a nice advantage at even strength. They also are considerably less penalized than Washington so there's a good chance that the majority of the game is played five on five or in the Islanders favor.
The special teams are an entirely different story. The Islanders come in at 26th overall in combined special teams percentage while the Capitals are in first largely due to their first ranked power play, though their penalty kill is stronger than the Islanders' power play as well. It behooves the Islanders to avoid penalties even more than it usually does.
Travis Hamonic will not play in tonight's game and very little is known about his playing status in the near future. Brian Strait will play instead. It's worth noting that while Strait is nowhere near the quality of player that Hamonic is, the move does take the Islanders most penalized player out of the lineup. Frans Nielsen and Matt Martin are returning to the lineup and they'll take the place of Eric Boulton and Tyler Kennedy.
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| -AT- | ||||||
| 7:00 PM EST | ||||||
| Radio | Network | Venue | Network | Radio | ||
| WRHU 88.7 | MSG+/USA/RSN/TVA | Verizon Center | CNSW/USA/RSN/TVA | WXTG 102.1 | ||
| League | Value | Metric | Value | League | ||
| 8th | 61.6% | Points Percentage | 61.6% | 8th | ||
| 16th | 18.73% | Power Play Percentage | 25.32% | 1st | ||
| 26th | 77.88% | Penalty Kill Percentage | 81.20% | 14th | ||
| 26th | 96.61% | Combined Special Teams | 106.52% | 1st | ||
| 12nd | .252 | Goals +/- per 60 Minutes (All) | .456 | 4th | ||
| 4th | 2.9 | Goals for per 60 Minutes (All) | 2.8 | 6th | ||
| 19th | 2.7 | Goals against per 60 Minutes (All) | 2.4 | 4th | ||
| 18th | 49.2% | Faceoff Percentage (All) | 51.2% | 12nd | ||
| 4th | .551 | Penalty +/- per 60 Minutes (All) | -.240 | 21st | ||
| 4th | 7.85 | Corsi +/- per 60 Minutes (5V5 - Score Adjusted) | 3.89 | 12nd | ||
| 2nd | 7.55 | Fenwick +/- per 60 Minutes (5V5 - Score Adjusted) | 3.04 | 12nd | ||
| 2nd | 5.21 | Shot +/- per 60 Minutes (5V5 - Score Adjusted) | 1.35 | 15th | ||
| 3rd | 4.00 | Scoring Chance +/- per 60 Minutes (5V5 - Score Adjusted) | 2.39 | 11st | ||
| 23rd | 99.55% | P.D.O. (5V5) | 100.06% | 15th | ||
| 15th | 7.88% | Shooting Percentage (5V5) | 8.08% | 9th | ||
| 27th | 91.43% | Save Percentage (5V5) | 92.41% | 14th | ||
| The Enemies' Lair | ||||||
| Japers' Rink | ||||||
Poll
You know.
This poll is closed
-
1%
Islanders in Four
(1 vote) -
9%
Islanders in Five
(5 votes) -
56%
Islanders in Six
(31 votes) -
20%
Islanders in Seven
(11 votes) -
1%
Capitals in Seven
(1 vote) -
3%
Capitals in Six
(2 votes) -
7%
Capitals in Five
(4 votes) -
0%
Capitals in Four
(0 votes)