The New York Islanders Quest for a fifth Stanley Cup begins tonight in South Florida as they begin their best of 7 Series against the Panthers. Puck drop is at 8pm and you can find the game on MSG or CNBC if you live out of market.
The biggest news coming into tonight is the health of both clubs. Panthers’ young gun Vincent Trocheck remains out and has not practiced with the team yet. As for New York, they are starting to get healthy at exactly the right time. Travis Hamonic returns to the lineup tonight after missing the final six games of the regular season.
Hamonic will be paired with Calvin de Haan who is also good to go after getting banged up at the end of the season. Nick Leddy will play alongside Johnny Boychuk and finally Thomas Hickey will play with rookie dman Ryan Pulock to round out the blue line. I’m actually shocked that Isles’ head coach Jack Capuano is dressing Pulock as we all know that Cappy loves experience over talent but this was a pleasant surprise.
Upfront Alan Quine will play tonight in place of Steve Bernier and Quine deserves the look. He is a steady bottom six player that can kill penalties and has a touch of offense. He will center a third that will feature Ryan Strome and Shane Prince. I am concerned that this line may be way too small but the speed element that they bring will be interesting to see.
The fourth Line remains the same and the top line also sticks as Captain John Tavares will center Kyle Okposo and Frans Nielsen. The second line will be interesting at best as Brock Nelson will center Nikolay Kulemin and Josh Bailey. I honestly don’t love the second and third lines and odds are they won’t stay that way. However, if the Isles are going to win the series they MUST get some offense from their middle six forwards.
Finally in goal will be Thomas Greiss and J.F. Berube returns as the back-up. There is a lot of pressure on Greiss and I honestly don’t know what to expect. This should be a close series and the play between the pipes will be a determining factor.
Islander prospect Michael Dal Colle’s junior career ended last night and he is reporting to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers tonight. I can’t wait to see him play for the Sound Tigers this weekend. On the podcast today we break down the series, give our predictions and are joined by George Richards who covers the Panthers for the Miami Herald. Enjoy!
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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