Islanders Defeat Flyers and Head to Conference Finals for First Time Since 1993

But until Saturday, the first period had been a dry patch for the Islanders. They had failed to score in the first period through four straight games earlier in the series.

A couple of smart cross-ice passing plays played a key role for the Islanders. Derick Brassard, who had scored twice in two previous games, sent a perfect cross-ice pass to Greene when Hart was caught out of position. Josh Bailey, who has a team-leading 14 assists, was the setup man for Nelson on a well-executed two-on-one that put the Islanders up, 3-0.

The Islanders were facing adversity for the first time in the postseason, and they also had the weight of history on them.

They were trying to match the 1993 Islanders team, coached by the Hall of Famer Al Arbour. That team defeated the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 7 with David Volek playing the hero, scoring the winner in overtime. The Islanders went on to lose to the Montreal Canadiens in the conference finals, four games to one.

This Islanders team is similar to the 1993 Islanders in that neither team was built around individual stars. The Arbour-coached team had good shooters in Ray Ferraro, Steve Thomas and Pierre Turgeon, a hard-hitting defenseman in Darius Kasparaitis, and adequate goaltending from Glenn Healy. These Islanders play a grinding style and depend on tight defensive structure to wear down opponents.

“We are a team,” Trotz said. “We don’t have a lot of those top-end guys. We’re built more as a four-line team. Everybody has to contribute, or we can’t have success.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/05/sports/hockey/islanders-flyers-result.html