2021 Round 1 Series Storylines: Penguins vs. Islanders
PLAYING THE RIGHT WAY
The last time these teams met in the postseason, it didn't go well for the Penguins, as they got swept for the first time since the 2013 Eastern Conference Final against Boston.
But head coach Mike Sullivan recently said, this is a new season and this is a new team. And these Penguins seem to have overcome their struggles against the Islanders, as they posted a 6-2 record in the regular-season series.
The biggest difference between then and now is that the Penguins are committed to playing the right way, to use one of Sullivan's favorite phrases. Two years ago, they just weren't. It's as simple as that. And as a result, they paid dearly against the structurally sound, defensive-minded Islanders.
The Penguins didn't play hard enough or smart enough. They made bad decisions with and without the puck. And when things inevitably didn't go their way, the Penguins lacked the resiliency and hunger to battle back.
Now, the Penguins have become a team in every sense of the word as they rallied around the adversities thrown their way - whether it was on the ice with injuries or off the ice with the management change - and completely bought into what Sullivan continually preaches: compete level, collective effort and attention to details. Their game boils down to those things, and that's exactly what they need in order to have success against this type of opponent.
"You got to have some patience, you got to do those little things, you got to pay attention to details because any little thing that could go wrong, any one mistake could end up in the back of your net," winger Bryan Rust said. "There aren't too many opportunities and aren't too many goals in games like that, so I think for us, our ability to stay patient and trust the process has been big."
It's a credit to the Islanders that they haven't changed much since that series. They've developed such a distinct identity under head coach Barry Trotz, and play the exact same way regardless of their personnel. That's helped them advance further and further in the postseason each year, making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final last season.
"We're a pretty confident group," forward Mathew Barzal said. "We've beaten all the top teams. We've had good games with everybody. Going deep in the playoffs last year helps this group as well. We're hungry. Last year was heartbreaking."
That being said, the Penguins are just as motivated to put the disappointments of the past two seasons behind them, first with the Islanders series and then with the Canadiens series.
"We've had some early exits last couple years, so I think it drives you even more, you want to win that much more," Jake Guentzel said. "So I think for us, it's just an exciting time. We've had a good regular season so far, so I think we're all excited to get going here and just can't wait for it to start."
UNRIVALED DEPTH VERSUS STINGY DEFENSE
The Penguins finished the regular season as one of the NHL's best offensive teams, with an average of 3.45 goals per game. And what makes them even more formidable is that barring any setbacks, they will likely have a full complement of forwards for the first time this season. As Kasperi Kapanen said the other day: the Penguins have a pretty stacked lineup, from top to bottom.
"I think it's a strength of ours, for sure," Crosby said of the team's depth. "We've got every line that can contribute. On defense, we've got a lot of different pairs that can go out there and do the job both defensively and offensively. Our goalie depth has shown all year too. You don't have success without having depth, and that becomes even more important come playoff time. I think we're definitely confident in that, and it's something that has been a big part of our success, so we'll look for that carry over into playoffs."
The Penguins are particularly strong down the middle.The two-headed monster of Crosby and Malkin alone would be a lot to handle. But factor in veteran playoff performer Jeff Carter - who had nine goals in 13 games with the Penguins after being acquired from Los Angeles - and steady two-way presence Teddy Blueger, and that could prove to be a matchup headache for the Islanders.
New York does have one bonafide star in Barzal, and they have a lot of good players. But overall, the Islanders just can't compete with the Penguins' depth, especially with Anders Lee suffering a season-ending ACL injury back in March. Their captain is one of the league's best power forwards, and his absence has been felt.
Despite adding longtime Devils Kyle Palmieri - a five-time 20-goal scorer - and Travis Zajac at the trade deadline to help offset that loss, the Islanders stumbled a bit down the stretch. They went 5-8-3 to end the regular season - including a 1-3-1 in their final five - and ranked in the bottom-10 in goals per game. But the Islanders did finish the season as one of the NHL's best defensive teams, ranking second in goals-against per game, and that gives them confidence heading into the series.
"I like our goaltending, our defense has been solid all year, and our forwards have been pretty solid," Trotz said. "Dried up a little offensively in a span there late this last month. But that'll come. You go to the hard areas, you're going to score. The games are always close. When it's uncomfortable, we've learned to be pretty comfortable with that."
But so have the Penguins, especially down the stretch. They feel prepared to play in low-scoring games if that's how the series shakes out.
"I think the one thing that's encouraging from our standpoint is that we believe our team is capable of creating offensive different ways," Sullivan said. "We've shown that throughout the course of this season consistently - both against teams that play a stingy defensive style, but also against teams that play more of an offensive style. I think the most important thing is that we take what the game gives us, and we have an element of patience associated with the game."
The Penguins will also look to dictate the terms to the best of their ability. The Penguins posed problems for the Islanders with the speed of their team game during the regular season, and Rust said they will look to continue playing fast and fearless in the postseason.
"I think against a team like the Islanders who can play so well and always has guys and numbers back, we have to really work on kind of using our speed to maybe gain a foot or two or a little bit of space on some guys to try and make some plays when they're there," Rust said.
GOALTENDING MATCHUP
It could be argued that the Penguins' biggest X-factor is between the pipes, simply because of Tristan Jarry's lack of experience at this time of year. But the team has complete confidence in the 26-year-old, who will enter the playoffs as Pittsburgh's starter for the first time in his career after Matt Murray's departure this offseason. Their second-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft has waited for and worked towards this moment for years, and is ready to seize it.
"Obviously everything's amped up and there's lots more pressure on everyone, but I think it's just the same game," Jarry said. "You're playing the same game as the regular season and every game gets a little bit bigger just in terms of from four to seven, so I think it's just putting your best foot forward and making sure you have a good game."
He may have just one game of NHL postseason experience, which came in Game 4 of the Qualifying Round against Montreal. But Jarry has played on big stages before - most notably when he led Edmonton to the Memorial Cup in 2014 - and simply has the ideal mindset for this time of year. Jarry is calm, cool, collected and just absolutely unflappable.
"I just think it's part of his personality," Sullivan said. "I think it's part of what makes him the goalie that he is. He doesn't get rattled by any circumstances, whether the stakes get high or the pressure is on. I'm not sure Jars is the type of guy that that recognizes the difference. He just goes on the ice and he plays the game. And I think that that helps him be the goalie that he is."
Jarry certainly is a talented one, and is coming into this series on an upward trajectory. His main focus is always just to get better every day, and that's exactly what he did all season.
After putting together an All-Star campaign in 2019-20 and signing his first big contract during the offseason, Jarry got off to a bit of a rough start at the beginning of the year. Which is understandable, considering that he was adjusting to a new role and workload in the midst of a uniquely structured season. But Jarry started to get more comfortable as the year progressed, and hit his stride down the stretch, posting a 13-1-2 record dating back to March 21.
Overall, Jarry earned 25 wins in 38 starts, and was particularly successful against the Islanders - posting a 5-1 record with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in their series. Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov didn't fare as well in the series, going 1-3-2 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage in six starts. But the 33-year-old veteran had a terrific regular season overall, posting dazzling numbers to go along with his 19-11-4 record.
Varlamov finished with a 2.05 goals-against average, which set an Islanders single-season record. He also led the league with seven shutouts, which tied the Islanders single-season record. That comes after Varlamov ended up starting in 19 of 22 playoff games last season to backstop the Islanders all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.
Overall, Varlamov has been rock steady since signing with the Islanders following Robin Lehner's departure. Lehner was a Vezina Trophy finalist for the league's best goalie in his last season with New York, and Varlamov is certainly in the conversation this year. He has the ability to be a huge difference-maker in a series, so the Penguins have to do what they can to make life difficult for Varlamov.
HOME-ICE ADVANTAGE
There truly has been no place like home for the Penguins this season. Pittsburgh's 22-4-2 record at PPG Paints Arena led the NHL, while its .821 points percentage was the highest in franchise history.
And if there was any doubt that fans in the stands provide a home-ice advantage…well, there shouldn't be. From their first game with patrons at PPG Paints Arena on March 2 until the end of the season, the Penguins went 15-3-2 at home.
"It was a huge boost to even get small amounts at a time," Crosby told Pittsburgh radio personality Mark Madden. "Every person in there counts as far as providing us energy and giving us a boost. The more people that start getting back, the better it is for us, for sure."
And the good news is that the Penguins will be able to increase capacity by 50% on May 17, meaning they can welcome more than 9,000 fans for any game played on or after that date - which is "huge," to use Sullivan's term.
"They bring energy and they help us create the electric environment that our players love to play in," he said. "I know how appreciative we all are of our fan support here; this is a passionate fan base. So anytime we can put more fans in the building, we think that that helps create the environment and the energy that our players have the ability to feed off of, so that's exciting news from our standpoint."
The Penguins are going to need to take advantage of having home ice, as that could play a big factor in this series. Pittsburgh was the only team in the league with a better home record than the Islanders, who finished 21-4-3 at Nassau Coliseum.
This postseason will be the swan song for that old barn, which first opened back in 1972, as the Islanders are moving to the brand-new UBS Arena in Belmont Park in the fall. The team and their fans will want to close the building on the right note, so expect an even more amped-up crowd than normal…especially as attendance increases from 1,400 to approximately 6,800 for the start of playoffs.
