The New York Islanders face the Carolina Hurricanes in the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Islanders are one of the wild card teams in the Eastern Conference and clinched their playoff spot in the final game of the season with a 42-31-9 record. The Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division title with a 52-21-9 record and looking to have a deep playoff run after losing in the Second Round in each of the last two years. Both teams are looking to start this series out with a win and Game One looks to be a great one as a result.
The Islanders put together a great season but they'll need their offense to improve if they hope to win this series as they averaged only 2.95 goals per game. Brock Nelson and Anders Lee scored 64 goals and 61 assists but the rest of the offense struggled. The hope is that Mathew Barzal can add a spark to the offense as he scored 14 goals and 37 assists but missed the second half of the regular season with an injury and is back in the lineup.
The offense has struggled but the defense carried the Islanders throughout the season, allowing only 2.65 goals per game. Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield combined for 9.1 defensive point shares and 296 blocked shots while Adam Pelech, Noah Dobson, and Sebastian Aho combined for 11.3 defensive point shares, adding depth to the unit. Moreover, goaltender Ilya Sorokin has been remarkable with a .924 save percentage and a 2.34 goals-against average on 1838 shots with 36.0 goals saved above average.