There will be plenty of factors that will play into whether the Islanders or Florida Panthers come out on top in the Qualifying Round, which starts on Saturday.
The Islanders addition of Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the deadline and the addition of several previously injured players will be a big boost for them. Florida hopes to see Sergei Bobrovsky return to the form he had in Columbus and hope their success on the man-advantage continues.
Below are three X-factors for the Islanders and Panthers heading into Game 1.
Islanders
Jean-Gabriel Pageau: The addition of the 27-year-old at the trade deadline will go a long way for the Islanders in the postseason. Pageau was added to help mitigate the loss of Casey Cizikas down the middle, but now with a fully healthy team, Pageau can do even more.
The Islanders have four quality centermen to anchor each line, which allows the team to put out any line in any situation. When Pageau arrived, the pressure was on for him to pick up the slack without Cizikas. He had goals in his first two games as an Islander, but it seemed there was too much put on his plate.
Now, he has a bit more room to stretch out his legs and has found quick comfort with Derick Brassard on his wing.
“Obviously at the trade deadline we got one of the best players,” Derick Brassard said on Thursday. “I think a guy like that on our team, I’ll take that any day.”
Pageau’s abilities will come in handy on special teams, where it’s likely we’ll see him play both sides. Pageau’s five power-play goals during this season are most among any Islanders skater. His strong, responsible play in his own end makes him an asset to help hold off a talented Panthers power play.
Adam Pelech: There’s no bigger storyline during this past season than the injury to Adam Pelech. It effectively changed the course of the Islanders season and sent them into a bit of a scramble. The Islanders tried to fill the hole with Noah Dobson and then went out and acquired Andy Greene before the trade deadline.
With Pelech back, the Islanders blue line gets a major boost from one of its most crucial players. Pelech played very well in Wednesday’s exhibition game against the New York Rangers and showed that he hasn’t lost a step. The tandem of Pelech and Ryan Pulock likely moves back to the team’s top defensive pair
“To have Adam back is big for our team,” Ryan Pulock said on Friday. “He’s just a stable partner for me and obviously he’s really key for us on the penalty kill. He just brings an element that is just kind of easy to play with. He’s sound back there. I think that’s going to be really, really good for us.”
Islanders Top Line: The Islanders are not an offensive juggernaut. That’s just not the way they’re built. They’re a team that’s going to win one-goal games instead of blowing out their opponent, which means the onus is on the Islanders best offensive weapons to find the back of the net.
In this case, that is the top line of Jordan Eberle, Mat Barzal and Anders Lee. The three are among the Islanders top-five points getters and goal scorers from the 2019-20 regular season. Eberle, in particular, had a herculean effort for the Isles last year in the playoffs against the Penguins with goals in every game of the first round. Barzal will need to build upon the 60 point season (19 goals, 41 assists) he was having before the pandemic.
Barzal looked pretty good during training camp and played well in the exhibition win over the Rangers on Wednesday night.
Panthers
Sergei Bobrovsky: If Bobrovsky can play like Florida expected him to do when they inked him to a massive contract, then the Panthers will have a fighting chance in this series. Bobrovsky had a 3.23 goals-against average during the regular season and a .900 save percentage. Not quite what the Panthers had hoped for.
However, he has had plenty of success against the Islanders. In 27 games against the Isles, Bobrovsky is 16-10-0 with a .928 save percentage. That’s the Bobrovsky that will need to show up come Saturday.
Power Play: The Panthers had one of the deadliest power plays in the NHL during the regular season. With a 21.3 percent success rate, they were 10th in the NHL on the man-advantage. Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman had 11 power-play goals each for the Panthers, and Jonathan Huberdeau had 29 power-play points during the regular season.
The Panthers benefited from having Keith Yandle quarterback their power play as well.
“We’d like to stay out of the penalty box.” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said Friday. “That’s one area they’ve been very strong last year with the personnel they have.”
Mike Hoffman: The Panthers forward is the team’s leading goal scorer and top five in points with 52 during the regular season. Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau get a lot of the attention when it comes to the Panthers high powered offense, but Hoffman has made his mark from his five-on-five play and on the man-advantage.
Florida will need production out of him, along with Evgenii Dadonov, Noel Acciari, Frank Vatrano and others to round out the team’s secondary scoring. Florida was sixth in the league in scoring with 3.30 goals per game. If Hoffman and the rest of his teammates can match that success in the Qualifying Round then the Islanders will be back on their heels.
