The Semifinals of the Eastern Conference are set (as is the West). With the Flyers playing the Canadiens in yesterday’s Game 6, they stepped forward on our favorite islanders. (The other collision: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Boston Bruins.)
I like the way we agree against Philadelphia. Carter Hart played generally well, but also had some less than stellar moments. The Flyers battled pretty much against the lowest seed in the entire Return to Play tournament and Hart saved their bacon, so to speak.
But do not take my word for it; take the word for the numbers for it too!
the Islanders will be a big, big problem for the flyers as philadelphia plays everywhere close to the way they did in round 1
– dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) August 22, 2020
Game 1 of the Isles’ series begins Monday night at 7pm EDT on NBCSN in the US and CBC, Sportsnet, and TVAS in Canada – the last of the semi-finals to begin. Here’s the full schedule for the second round of the postseason, with the Isles-Flyers series at the top of the list.
Islanders News
Like the theme of these Bits, it will be the Islanders Flyers in Round 2. [Newsday | NHL]
- The Depths of the Islands has been a big part of their success this postseason – Ross Johnston and Michael Dal Colle stepped in seamlessly for Game 5. [Newsday]
- Arthur Staple identifies five key reasons the Islanders have for the conference semifinals, including their dominant 5v5 game and the emergence of Anthony Beauvillier as “A Guy Teams Have to Worry About.” [The Athletic]
- And the team page identifies five takeaways from the series, similar to The Athletic. [Islanders]
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Adam Pelech does all the little things well, as he always does when he’s at his best. [NY Post]
- It was an emotional win for Barry Trotz, who beat the boys with whom he won a Stanley Cup, but it was enjoyable. [Islanders]
- Chris King and Greg Picker have been in the playoffs for the Islanders throughout the playoffs, working remotely from Hofstra. [Islanders]
- VIDEO: Let’s experience the clincher series, for good fun! [Islanders]
Time for elimination
Yesterday’s NHL scores presented two Game 6 elimination scenarios, both of which come to fruition:
- Philadelphia took an early 2-0 lead and although they left Montreal back in the game (and probably over their entire rounds), they continued to knock out the Habs.
- Also, the upstart Canucks up a bumpy iteration of the defending champions – the St. Louis Blues were fired in Game 6. Last year, Jordan Binnington was a stone wall in elimination games. He was replaced the last few games by Jake Allen, but coach Craig Berube put himself back in for this elimination game. And then he gave Vancouver a 4-0 lead midway through the second period to be yanked.
Elsewhere, including start of next round
- The Stars and Avalanche were scheduled to begin their second round series tonight at 8pm EDT, whether the Flyers-Canadiens and Blues-Canucks series ended yesterday or not. It will be on NBC. [NHL]
- After this latest Flame disappointment, Johnny Gaudreau seems to be on his way out of Calgary, despite two years left on his team-friendly deal. [Sportsnet]
- Now that his Coyotes are out, Taylor Hall acknowledges that the money may not be there, and, with only two playoff appearances in his career, both of which resulted in an elimination of 5 games in Round 1, he says he won is “what [he’s] no. ” [NHL]
- JP, as Japer, as it were, pinned an article stating that the capitals were equal to run away from Trotz, even if they went with the wrong man in Todd Reirden. Sure, we’ll take him! [Japers’ Rink]
- The Canadiens could not handle the uproar against the Flyers, but they looked good and made a bright future, for a change. [Sportsnet]
- Old friend Katie Strang discovers Mike Milbury, both for his string of offensive comments and for his inability to provide interesting or constructive comments. [The Athletic]
