With a chance to clinch their series against the Boston Bruins at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday night, the New York Islanders, or shall we say “Saints,” did just about everything right. Looking to march their way into the Stanley Cup semi-finals, the boys in blue and orange were buzzing early on, just dominating the Boston Bruins and their complaining head coach.
Travis Zajac was rewarded with a goal early, but Brad Marchand tied things up just a few minutes later on the power-play. After twenty minutes, we had a tie game.
New York absolutely exploded in the second period, notching four goals from the likes of Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri. The Anthony Beauvillier, Brock Nelson, and Josh Bailey line continued to buzz and were undoubtedly a huge factor in New York’s game six success. They continued to force turnovers and swarm the Bruins, putting their thin defense under a lot of pressure. New York just needed to hold onto a 4-1 lead for twenty minutes, and they’d secure a spot in the Stanley Cup semi-finals for the second consecutive year.
Matt Martin was called for a penalty early in the third, which sent the Saints shorthanded. After failing a clearing attempt, Brad Marchand cut the lead to two with well over fourteen minutes to go. However, the Saints stayed discipline and out of the penalty box, preventing late Bruins surges as seen in games two and five. Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Pulock each scored empty netters, with Pulock’s coming on a fortuitous bounce off the glass. Good teams get good breaks.
Done. Game over. 6-2. The New York Saints came marching in and marching out, one step closer to hoisting that big, shiny, silver thing.
It’s impossible to criticize anything the Isles did on Wednesday night, and when they play like that, they can beat just about anybody. They are now met with their toughest test yet and have another crack at the team that eliminated them from the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Game one will take place on Sunday at 3:00 PM Eastern Time.
