![]() #HAS ANYONE EVER WON THE BEST BUBBLE BREAKER SERIES#For the most part, though, this series has exposed how little their defensemen transport the puck, which is an important part of cracking the Isles’ right-wing lock. The Flyers have had some success with high flip plays out of the D zone to get their rushes started. On the first of Brock Nelson’s two goals in Game 4, Josh Bailey picked off a weak outlet pass by Myers with all three Flyers forwards gone from the zone. Brassard then outworked Niskanen for his own rebound and fed Komarov in a group of Flyers the backhand shot caught Carter Hart still getting set. On Komarov’s back-breaker with 5.1 seconds left in the second in a 1-1 game, Derick Brassard went up in the air to grab an attempted exit by Matt Niskanen that Komarov deflected. Mathew Barzal beat Kevin Hayes to the puck and Phillippe Myers left the net front to assist, letting Martin slip in. On Martin’s goal, the Flyers turned it over exiting the zone and then again on a flip attempt up the side that Jordan Eberle batted down and got back in deep. Look at the three second-period goals from the two games. The Flyers’ D is big and can create some offense, but very rarely off the rush, and that’s seemingly emboldened the Isles’ already good forecheck. Philly’s best-skating defenseman is Shayne Gostisbehere and he’s been a healthy scratch since Game 2. There were good signs in both games of what the Islanders have been able to do to the Flyers, most notably take advantage of a defense corps that doesn’t really use its legs to break a forecheck. But they all count the same, just as the wins count the same even when, as Trotz put it after Game 4, the Islanders played their worst game of the playoffs and still came away with a 3-1 series lead. And if you look at their key goals from Games 3 and 4, you might be inclined to agree, at least about the ugly part.įrom Matt Martin’s tying goal to Leo Komarov’s eventual winner in Game 3 to J-G Pageau’s go-ahead goal in Game 4, it’s hard to remember a spate of important goals that barely crossed the goal line. They’ve won more games (10) than anyone in the 24-team tournament and have given up the fewest goals. The Isles have been hit with the boring/ugly labels during their frankly remarkable run in August. Here are our seven takeaways from the pair of Islanders wins this weekend: Any which way you can It’s a room that understands that you have to go the distance and that distance is the final buzzer.” “You saw that when we were down three pucks the other night (in Game 2) and we pulled it off to get it to overtime. “Our group understands that you go the distance on everything,” Trotz said after Sunday’s 3-2 win in Game 4. The Isles’ tunnel vision when it comes to shifts within games, between games and even in schedules has brought them closer to their first conference final since 1993. Now, after wins on consecutive nights despite some uneven play, the Islanders are one more victory away from sending the Flyers home and earning themselves another change of scenery - this time a trip to Edmonton for the Eastern Conference final. When they earned their transfer, no one else in the Toronto bubble had done so. Change, after nearly a month in the same spot, seemed welcome to Barry Trotz and the Isles. ![]()
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