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The New York Islanders will field the same lineup (excepting, possibly, a change in goal) for Game 2 that worked so well...enough to win via overtime to take the opener in this series with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They’re surely counting on a performance more akin to what they did in the second half of that game, rather than the pressure they absorbed in the first half.
Barry Trotz said there would be no lineup changes, other than Semyon Varlamov being “available” after sitting out Game 1. We’ll see if they switch from Ilya Sorokin or give him a chance to take the old “commanding” 2-0 lead.
Trotz also addressed a question about one of the Islanders’ vulnerable spots, the bottom four defensive pairings. Specifically, Scott Mayfield and Nick Leddy:
#Isles Barry Trotz on the Leddy-Mayfield pairing in Game 1:
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) May 18, 2021
"I thought they were OK. A couple of decisions they made that we're going to try to clean up. They were both pretty physical, I thought their first half was average. Then the second half, they got really dialed in."
The Penguins appear to continue to be without Evgeni Malkin, who stayed for some individual work during both practice skates since Game 1. They’re also likely to still have Tristan Jarry in net, so if the Isles are able to beat him high again...look for drama and fun!