After doing an article looking at what New York’s lines may look like up front, this article will focus on what the defense pairings and situation in net may look like.
With Adam Pelech back, we can expect to see him reunited with Ryan Pulock on the top pairing. The duo will provide defensive stability against Florida’s top forwards, along with some offensive contributions, mostly from Pulock. We can expect to see Devon Toews and Scott Mayfield paired together as well.
Nick Leddy will be the third defenseman on the left side but as I wrote in a previous article, the Islanders will have a decision to make about who gets scratched between Johnny Boychuk or Andy Greene. I’d say Boychuk will probably be the one starting but an interesting idea mentioned in the comments was the possibility of a rotation between the two. I’d say the Islanders would probably prefer to stick to one player if he’s playing well, especially considering the uncertainty of how players may perform after the break, but if they’re not getting what they need out of one player, there’s certainly the option to make the switch. Also, unless two defenders go down with injuries, Noah Dobson probably isn’t stepping foot on the ice during the playoffs.
So the defense group for the first game of the series will likely look like this:
Pelech - Pulock
Toews - Mayfield
Leddy - Boychuk
In net, I think the most likely scenario is Semyon Varlamov starting for the Islanders. He got into more games than Thomas Greiss throughout the year and despite a poor end to the season, he had quite a strong year overall. It’s safe to say that if he struggles, however, Barry Trotz probably won’t think twice about giving the net to Greiss.
The Islanders have an advantage over the Panthers both on defense and in net. It’s just a matter of figuring out how to use their players in order to give the team the best possible chance heading into the series.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
How much more confident do you feel in New York's defense with Adam Pelech returning?
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