Panthers-Islanders series debated by Moller, Goring

The Stanley Cup Qualifiers will use eight best-of-5 series and two four-team round-robins to determine the field and seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL.com will preview every series with an alumni roundtable, featuring a former player from each team debating key points.

Today, former Florida Panthers defenseman Randy Moller and former New York Islanders center Butch Goring take a look at the series between New York and Florida, to be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto beginning Saturday (4 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV, SN1, TVAS, FS-F, MSG+).

Moller played 13 seasons in the NHL (1982-95) and finished his career with Florida. He scored 225 points (45 goals, 180 assists) in 815 regular-season games with the Quebec Nordiques, New York Rangers, Buffalo Sabres and Panthers and is now an analyst on Panthers telecasts for Fox Sports Florida.

Goring played six seasons with the Islanders (1980-85), scoring 195 points (87 goals, 108 assists) in 332 regular-season games and 68 points (28 goals, 40 assists) in 99 playoff games for New York, winning the Stanley Cup four times (1980-83). He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when he finished with 10 goals and 10 assists in 18 games during New York's run to its second straight championship. Goring is now an analyst on Islanders telecasts for MSG Networks.

GOALTENDING

Moller: "I think the edge for Sergei Bobrovsky is that he's been in this position before. He has the experience of playing in high-pressure situations, playing in the playoffs. He's not a rookie goaltender who's never played a playoff game. He knows his body, the way he prepares himself. I have all the confidence that he's going to give the Panthers the goaltending that they're going to need in order to be successful. In saying that, if the Panthers, in my mind, are going to be victorious over the New York Islanders in this best-of-5, I would think that Bobrovsky is going to have to be one of the Three Stars each and every game that he plays. I don't think I'm saying anything that somebody else wouldn't say. Goaltending is going to be optimal. I have the utmost respect for the Islanders' goaltending -- I mean, the Panthers only scored four goals in three games against the Islanders in the regular season. Their goaltending has been spectacular, but the Panthers know that they're going to need Sergei Bobrovsky at the top of his game."

Goring: "I actually think it's going to be pretty even. As everyone knows, (Bobrovsky) signs a big contract and has high expectations, but he really hasn't lived up to those expectations. He's had an OK year, up and down, and looking at this playoff record, he can be very good or not so good. It looks like Semyon Varlamov is going to start right now, and given his performance Wednesday night (19 saves, no goals allowed in a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers), he's certainly a very capable goaltender and he's come up with some big games. I don't really think there's an edge there; I think it's going to be a matter of who plays well at the right times and who can make the big save at the right time. I would say goaltending is pretty close to a draw."

DEPTH SCORING

Moller: "This is what the Panthers are going to have to rely on. They want to play an up-tempo offensive game and allow their stars like Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov -- if those guys are allowed to play the way they want to play and create offense, that's going to favor the Panthers for sure. They definitely have more firepower than the Islanders do -- no disrespect to the Islanders -- but with the Panthers having five 20-goal scorers and their power play, if they get numerous opportunities, that's going to favor the Panthers."

Goring: "One thing about the Islanders is that they're 12 deep when you talk about forwards. I mean, there are no weak links; it doesn't matter who (coach) Barry (Trotz) sends out. When you watch him coach, he's pretty comfortable with anybody playing against anybody, although he does match up at different times. But they're very, very deep. They're not a high-powered offensive team -- no doubt about that. They're not a team that's going to score five, six goals on a regular basis. They're going to try to win games 1-0 or 2-1. If you want to talk about who's going to score more goals during a regular season, then Florida is; they've got some great talent in Barkov and Huberdeau and Hoffman, and they've got a really good power play, so they're dangerous offensively."

Moller: "The trade to get Lucas Wallmark and Erik Haula really seemed to solidify all four lines, and now the Panthers get (center) Brian Boyle back. He has so much playoff experience, and his size and face-off prowess, he's going to be counted on as well in a short series to make sure that he makes an impact."

DEFENSEMEN

Goring: "I'm a firm believer that good defense beats good offense, good pitching beats good hitting. Certainly, Adam Pelech is just a huge cog in the wheel, he's the best penalty-killer and they give up less goals when he's on the ice. He and Ryan Pulock are both strong in front of the net and have some good balance in one another. I don't know if they're eight deep, but they're certainly six deep and there's not much difference between the group."

Moller: "The Panthers know they have to keep it simple. The biggest thing for their defense is coming out of their own zone and making sure that they hit those forwards who have the speed -- the Dadonovs and the Barkovs -- they have to hit them with the passes. When the Panthers had their problems, one of their issues was their breakouts; the defense, for whatever reason, was unable to get the puck to the forwards quickly so they could exit the zone. That's what I'm going to be looking for in the first couple of games in this series, how effective the Panthers exit their own zone."

Goring: "The Islanders are a great forechecking team; when they're skating and they're playing smart, they can spend a lot of time in the Panthers end, and that's really their game. Florida's defense is going to be tested and (Bobrovsky) is going to be tested. If the Islanders play their game, they should win this series. But it's not going to be easy, and it may be five games."