Isles Insights: Islanders Advance to the First Round | NYHN+

The Islanders are moving on to the playoffs. They defeated the Florida Panthers 5-1 in Game 4 to make it out of the Qualifying Round of the postseason tournament.

The Islanders got back to what made them successful in the first two games of the series. Truth be told, minus some mental lapses in Game 3, The Islanders played a solid series against a Florida team that knows how to put the puck in the net.

Anthony Beauvillier scored twice in Game 4, while Brock Nelson, Mat Barzal and Jean-Gabriel Pageau also found the back of the net. Mike Hoffman scored Florida’s only goal.

Isles Insights

1. It is no exaggeration to call Ryan Pulock’s goal-saving play in the second period a turning point in Game 4. The Islanders were up 3-1 with just over 10 minutes to go in the middle frame when Aleksander Barkov found himself with a wide-open net to shoot at.

Semyon Varlamov had been knocked down after Adam Pelech accidentally pushed Jonathan Huberdeau towards the Islanders netminder. Barkov had what looked like an easy goal until Pulock came diving to get his stick on the shot and redirect over the net.

“To me, it was one of those defining moments,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “You get a break there. They got some great saves on the other side with (Sergei) Bobrovsky on our power play. Then they get a chance to get within a goal and they don’t. … Those are sort fo defining moments, but that was a critical moment.

“A great play by (Pulock) to save a goal.”

It was without a moment that will be associated with Pulock for some time. He is already one of the Islanders best defenders. His long reach,  big body and smart hockey IQ have made him an important asset on the blue line. The sacrifice he showed on Friday only adds to that.

2. So I was the goofball that asked Anthony Beauvillier about the phrase “Have Fun” that he has written on his stick. There was a point I was getting towards by asking about it.

Beauvillier has been a dominant force in the Qualifying Round series against Florida. Even during the exhibition game against the New York Rangers, he made his presence felt. He has four straight games now with points, including three goals over that span.

Two of those came on Friday when Beauvillier carried the Isles offense on his back in the first period. He had already recorded his first multi-point game in the postseason before the first-period buzzer sounded.

The 23-year-old certainly seems to be having plenty of fun out on the ice with Brock Nelson and Josh Bailey. The three had a strong series as a whole, with Nelson recording five shots on net in Game 4 and Bailey recording two assists in the four games.

Where the question was going was to see if the phrase “Have Fun” had any correlation to the mentality that Beauvillier was bringing every time he hit the ice.

“Sometimes it’s just good to remind yourself why you’re doing this,” Beauvillier responded. “I’ve been writing it on my stick for over six, seven years now. It’s just almost a routine now to write that on my stick.”

3. The Islanders were back to the form that everyone had seen in Game 1 and Game 2. They limited their mistakes and they won the special teams game in Game 4. New York did give Florida five power-play chances — one of which came in the last minute of the game with the win securely in hand for the Islanders —  but they only gave up one on the man-advantage.

The Islanders limited the Panthers high danger chances to just three, according to Natural Stat Trick, all of which came in the first period.

On the flip side, New York capitalized on the man-advantage at the correct time to extend its lead in the second period to 3-1.

4. Barry Trotz shocked a few people with the decision to swap Tom Kuhnhackl out of the lineup in favor of Leo Komarov. The move paid off in the end, with Komarov seeing 2:33 of ice time during the penalty kill. Komarov also had an assist on Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s empty-net goal in the third period.

The veteran winger played Friday’s game with a full cage. Komarov took a puck to the face during the Phase 2 workouts.

“When we started this process we figured Leo would be in the lineup and then he got injured in the Phase 2 part of it,” Trotz said. “He’s worked really hard. He feels very confident that he can come back now and play. We just felt that Florida’s power play is tremendous. It’s all world. It’s dangerous in every element.

“We felt that Leo is a veteran guy. A heavier guy that Tommy and he felt he was ready. We said, ‘let’s put him in.'”

5. Mat Barzal finally found the back of the net after three games of staying off the score sheet. Of the four games, Friday was the young forwards best of the series. He finished the afternoon with a goal, his first of the postseason, and an assist.

And Barzal looked like the player that the Islanders need if they’re planning on sticking around the Toronto bubble for longer than just a round or two.

Barzal was one of four Islander players to put five shots on net in Game 4 and he displayed his scoring prowess on his third-period breakaway goal.

I had to adapt and almost forgot how to score and get to the net and how hard guys play you in the corners,” Barzal said. “It took me a game or two just to get that touch and feel back. I feel like I found it a bit tonight.”