Isles Insights: Resiliency Shows for Islanders in Game 1 Win Over Panthers | NYHN+

Call it a textbook win for the Islanders. A 2-1 victory over the Florida Panthers that saw their defense clamp down on a high powered offense.

It wasn’t without its challenges of course. The Islanders had to play five defensemen for more than half the game and the Panthers did push back in the second and third periods.

In the end, a 1-0 series lead is not a bad start to this bizarre NHL postseason.

Isles Insights

1. As Rob Simpson did an excellent job of pointing out in his column, the Islanders did a great job of holding off the Panthers high powered offense on Saturday. It was not an easy feat to accomplish considering that Florida was the sixth-highest scoring team during the regular season and seventh in average shots per game.

The Islanders limited Florida to just 28 shots through the 60-minute contest and only three skaters had more than two shots. Jonathan Huberdeau, who scored the Panthers lone goal, was kept to just two shots in 18:32 of ice time. Evgenii Dadonov had the same issue and Aleksander Barkov had three shots on goal.

The forwards Florida relies on for secondary scoring were held to even fewer shots on net.

2. No one is happy with the hit on Johnny Boychuk from Mike Matheson early in the second period. Fellow defenseman Ryan Pulock said he thought the hit was pretty high. Head coach Barry Trotz wasn’t going to agree with the decision to give Matheson a minor penalty instead of a major, but he accepted it.

“They looked at it and they reviewed. I trust their judgment,” Trotz said.

Regardless, the Islanders handled the situation very well. Through the remaining 37:16 of the contest, the Islanders were forced to play five defensemen. All five played at least 20 minutes in Boychuk’s absence on Saturday. It was the first time that five Islanders defenders played 20 plus minutes a playoff game that ended in regulation, according to statistician Eric Hornick.

The Islanders made very few mistakes despite the limited options on the blue line. The only major error came in the third period on Huberdeau’s goal 23 seconds in. The Islanders’ defense was caught watching the play and allowed the talented forward to score.

Other than that it was another example of the Islanders’ system holding down an opponent, even in more challenging circumstances.

“We did a good job back there,” Pulock said. “we shortened up our shifts and continued to battle.”

3. There was no update on Johnny Boychuk after the game.

4. For anyone questioning the high price the Islanders paid for Jean-Gabriel Pageau, all you have to do is look at Saturday’s game to see why they did it. His success in the faceoff circle alone became key in the Islanders Game 1 victory and he scored the opening goal off a feed from friend and linemate Derick Brassard.

Pageau’s 80 percent success rate in the faceoff circle was the best among either team and was out there late in the game to take a crucial defensive zone draw. Earlier in the game, he came away with another important win in the faceoff circle during Florida’s only power play of the game.

“It’s always fun to be out there in different situations,” Pageau said. “It’s fun to be out there. I love to compete. I love to be in that situation and just wanted to win that faceoff to keep gaining that confidence. These are the situations that it’s fun to be in and I really wanted to do the job.”

Offensively, he gelled well with Brassard and Tom Kuhnhackl as the Islanders’ third line. It was the forechecking of Kuhnhackly that started the play on Pageau’s first-period goal. The natural chemistry between Brassard and Pageau was there since the two started playing alongside one another, and it was easily noticeable in their last two games together.

5. Special teams was another big story for the Islanders in Game 1. They limited Florida’s power-play opportunities and they cashed in on a chance on the man-advantage.

The New York power play had a sluggish start to the game on their first go-around. The puck movement and chances improved immensely on their second man-advantage after Evgenii Dadonov was called for interference. The third time was the charm as Anthony Beauvillier buried the one-timer 55 seconds into the power play.

It was a stark contrast to the way things went during the exhibition game against the New York Rangers.

Florida was held to just one opportunity on the man-advantage and the Islanders penalty kill kept them in check. Semyon Varlamov made three good saves on the penalty kill early and the Islanders did a good job of clamping down the rest of the way to fend them off.

“We want to stay disciplined the whole series and I thought we did a good job tonight,” Beauvillier said about limiting Florida’s power-play time. “Just playing on the edge. Playing physical and hard, but stay within the lines and don’t go in the box. It’s obviously part of our plan and it worked out tonight.”

6. Give credit to Semyon Varlamov tonight. He didn’t have to do a lot over the course of the game, but when he needed to make the saves he was there. Varlamov was there on the aforementioned penalty kill to make three stops during Florida’s man-advantage.

He came up big later in the game with the Islanders briefly down two defensemen in the second period. The Panthers began to pressure the Islanders and held New York in their zone. Varlamov made a couple of good saves to keep Florida from capitalizing on any the momentum swing.