Great job of shadowing Ovechkin, this team is maturing and gaining a lot of playoff experience. Still need some big time forwards but it’s good to see them move on!
Good Islanders game. Incredible the difference between the two teams after the first 38 minutes of the first game. I went from whining to expecting them to win.
2 Thoughts: 1. Maybe the Capitals should have extended Barry Trotz after Winning the Stanley Cup instead of letting him leave and promoting a total schmo to Head Coach? 2. How ironic that the New York Islanders are winning in Toronto way more than John Tavares is in the playoffs? Great series, Isles fans! You guys were the better team. Hats off to you and good luck the rest of the way.
Congrats Isles Fans. I had to step back for a bit after the disappointment of my Hurricanes. I grew up a huge Islander fan, I will never forget being a Newsday delivery boy when that Sunday paper came and it had color on it for the first time. Although I switched to Canes when I moved in 2002, mostly because the Isles were the worst run team in pro sports at the time, I will be rooting for them big time! Hope you all don’t mind me jumping on the bandwagon.
Philly it is. Flyers beat Montreal 3-2. Rd 2 is Isles vs Flyers. First the Caps now the Flyers. Old time Patrick Division playoff hockey. I like it.
This is why I’m glad Lou did not start trading away the youth of the Islanders organization, the young players are going to be part of a winning culture and will be hungry to do their part to help this team win. It is painful to watch this team struggle without big time offensive players but the future is bright as long as we have Trotz and Lou running the organization, it’s about the long term with this team. looking forward to the Flyers series, I believe we matchup well against them, unlike the Bruins, I was not looking forward to Islanders playing Bruins, just feels like they can wear down the Islanders physically and make them pay offensively.
Todd Reirden fired! Thank you Islanders! He was clearly a loser, and that embarrassing performance in the bubble sealed his fate. Hopefully the Capitals can hire a solid Head Coach to give Ovechkin a chance at one last run. As for Round 2? I can't cheer for the Flyers ever. Good luck, guys!
When you look at the decision making process of the Caps in 2018 — rumors were they had already made up their mind to let Trotz go and never backed off that despite the Cup run, you have to be concerned about their ability to get back to that 2016-18 level.
Those were special teams. Built well. Coached well. All-time great players in or close to their prime. So I am not concerned about returning to that level. I don't think they can. However, get a new Head Coach who knows what he is doing, re-tool at a few positions, and they can attempt to make another run. It won't be easy though, like I said before, the Metro keeps getting stronger. The Islanders, on the other hand, are closer to a Cup than people may realize. They are pretty much doing the opposite of the Capitals. The Capitals had all these great players and then Trotz taught them the details and the 3rd and 4th lines stepped up and led to a Cup. The Isles do all the little things right already. They just need some more scorers and big play guys.
