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GDT: Canes v. Islanders 4/30 7:30

I will accept the outcome of this game and thus, the series. As a fan of the Hurricanes, this is the least that I can do.
 
SlapShots said:
So pleased that the Canes won this series, but 2nd periods like that won’t get us out of the 2nd round.
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Yeah, they're going to need to leave all those periods of sloppy or lazy hockey behind now. Theres no one left, as bad as the Isles.
 
This was a weird series. On paper, we were clearly the better team and should have walked away with it - and if you consider it only went 5 games, that's sounds a lot like walking away with it. However, we all know that each game was hotly contested and that we had far too many sub-par periods of play that allowed the Islanders to make a serious push in every game. I know that first rounds are rarely easy, but I hope the team realizes it has to reach a higher level of play more consistently to win the ultimate goal.
 
ThinIce said:
This was a weird series. On paper, we were clearly the better team and should have walked away with it - and if you consider it only went 5 games, that's sounds a lot like walking away with it. However, we all know that each game was hotly contested and that we had far too many sub-par periods of play that allowed the Islanders to make a serious push in every game. I know that first rounds are rarely easy, but I hope the team realizes it has to reach a higher level of play more consistently to win the ultimate goal.
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I dunno ... you just described basically every playoff series ever. There are always going to be ebbs and flows in control, barring the odd series that's a true mismatch ... cough, CAPS.
 
jeffbear said:
I dunno ... you just described basically every playoff series ever. There are always going to be ebbs and flows in control, barring the odd series that's a true mismatch ... cough, CAPS.
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Or the Jets. 7 goals in the first game then score 8 total in the last 4. While Vezina finalist Hellebuyck gets lit up for 5.23/.870
 
Kinda thinking the next series will have a much different feel than this one. Isles had a solid plan of basically slowing us down and chipping in a few goals to make it tight. Gotta hand it to them; the majority of their studs came to play and the scores didn’t reflect how tight most of these games were.
Hold on to your hats; I’m expecting the next series to maybe be at a more frenetic pace and I’m looking forward to it. Go Canes!
 
Following up on the tactical shifts ... I was looking to see what Brindy would do to get the pace up and Carolina DID start out more aggressive, pushing the D higher to challenge the zone entries a bit further above the defensive blue line. They also picked their spots to get two forwards deep on the forecheck to force NYI to engage both defensemen in the breakout patterns a lot more frequently. Makes sense against a team that doesn't have a ton of D who can make anything more than basic passes. They also targeted Dobson more, forcing him to dish laterally with simple pressure. It worked pretty well in the first, but Carolina paid dearly for a couple of positional breakdowns in the second. Still, the Canes got the pace they wanted for the most part. The Isles responded with pretty much every cheap trick in the book to slow things down. That was why you saw Pageau turning every faceoff into an amateur production of Hamlet and about ten pucks intentionally chipped into the benches.

For a hot minute in the second, Roy tried to go to the swamp trap to slow it down, but he pretty much immediately came out of it when the Canes started playing keepaway again. The other shift for Carolina was the breakout, as the Canes really focused on entering the Isles' zone down the middle of the ice once they got the puck to the neutral zone. They didn't always drive to the net from there, but they forced the Isles to adjust and that kept them from going into that tight shell to force possession wide. Again, it wasn't some sort of master stroke or anything, but Drury's goal came from that kind of pattern.
 
HurryCanes said:
Kinda thinking the next series will have a much different feel than this one. Isles had a solid plan of basically slowing us down and chipping in a few goals to make it tight. Gotta hand it to them; the majority of their studs came to play and the scores didn’t reflect how tight most of these games were.
Hold on to your hats; I’m expecting the next series to maybe be at a more frenetic pace and I’m looking forward to it. Go Canes!
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Yeah, the opponents couldn't be less similar really. Both teams will have to make some decisions on how much pace they're willing to allow/risk, because left to their own devices both teams are fully capable of turning this series into a track meet. Neither coach will want that. Not with these stakes.
 
ThinIce said:
This was a weird series. On paper, we were clearly the better team and should have walked away with it - and if you consider it only went 5 games, that's sounds a lot like walking away with it. However, we all know that each game was hotly contested and that we had far too many sub-par periods of play that allowed the Islanders to make a serious push in every game. I know that first rounds are rarely easy, but I hope the team realizes it has to reach a higher level of play more consistently to win the ultimate goal.
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Think about this though: we’ve played the islanders several times in the past few years. Despite the years and the coaching changes, this isles have had more or less the same talent level, talent distribution and style each time. Each time it’s appeared close game by game. Remember the 2019 series? Each of the first 3 games were 1 goal games (excluding ENs) with one going to OT. But the series was 4-0. In total, over 3 series, we’ve won 12 and lost 3. You’re starting to get a decent statistical sample at that point. Point is: when you’re playing the islanders, to paraphrase a famous sideview mirror, objects may appear closer than they really are.
 
Their approach is to stay close. To stay in games to have a chance if you get the bounces or if your goalie is extra hot.
 
Fayettenamcanesfan said:
and the canes got literally all the bounces last night
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Not in the 2nd. Right before they tied it up, I counted like 5 or 6 straight weird bounces that went directly to an Islanders stick. Off the boards, off skates, whatever ... everything was tilted to them for a good 5-6 minute stretch.
 
cmon3 said:
Their approach is to stay close. To stay in games to have a chance if you get the bounces or if your goalie is extra hot.
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This. It's not so much defensive hockey as it is muted hockey. Carolina used to do the same thing when Mo was here. It's tough to play against because they generally make it hard work to even do normal stuff.
 
jeffbear said:
This. It's not so much defensive hockey as it is muted hockey. Carolina used to do the same thing when Mo was here. It's tough to play against because they generally make it hard work to even do normal stuff.
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You gotta be willing to grind it out against them. If you do you’ll win and it will look like that. If you get frustrated with it and come off that game plan you might light them up, but they will get their chances against you and you could get behind them and then they can double down on making you work for everything.
 
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