- Last Updated: 4:09 AM, May 5, 2013
- Posted: 2:44 AM, May 5, 2013
When the Islanders talked playoffs during an abbreviated training camp, the response was a mixture of sideways looks and awkward, “sure you can” smiles.
When they talked confidently about upsetting the powerhouse top-seeded Penguins at the outset of this best-of-seven, opening-round series, even fewer people took them seriously.
They were supposed to be happy to be here, this young and inexperienced club in the playoffs for the first time in six seasons, a sacrificial lamb.
Yet two games in, here are the plucky and surprising Isles, tied with the loaded Penguins at one game apiece, having stolen home ice away from Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Co. after Friday’s gutty, come-from-behind 4-3 win in the Steel City in Game 2.
Getty Images
MASH PITT: Brian Strait and the Islanders leveled Sidney Crosby’s Penguins literally and figuratively in Game 2, evening the series going into today’s Coliseum matinee.
“We’ve come in believing in ourselves all season long,” center John Tavares said Saturday. “Nothing’s changed from that standpoint. You’ve see us this year, we started this second half of the year getting wins. Every single win we got better, we started gaining momentum, we started getting more confident and our game started getting to another level. This is no different.”
En route to a series sweep, a weird thing happened in Friday’s second period: The Islanders stopped letting in goals and allowing odd-man rushes, started to fight back — literally and figuratively — and make the Penguins pay for their mistakes.
It began in earnest when Kyle Okposo dropped Matt Niskanen in retaliation for a hit on teammate Matt Moulson and continued as Colin McDonald, Matt Martin and Okposo scored without a Penguins answer en route to the shocking road win.
“It was the turning point of the game for me,” defenseman Mark Strait said. “Moulson got hit, [Kyle] stepped in for him, first fight, and he did really well. He got everybody really pumped, got everybody really going, and after that we never looked back.”
This afternoon’s Game 3 figures to feature an electric atmosphere, the first playoff game at Nassau Coliseum in six years, since the Sabres came to Uniondale on April 18, 2007. Down the stretch, as the Islanders inched closer to the playoffs, large crowds began to show up and frequently chanted “We want playoffs.”
“There’s a buzz around the team, around [Long Island], with all the fans,” McDonald said. “I’m just really happy for them. I know it’s been a while since they had a game like this in this building. I know these fans have been dying for a game like this. Hopefully, we can give them a good performance.”
The Islanders know they will need to be at their best to take the next step in pulling off what would be a mammoth upset. The Isles need to build on all they did in Game 2 — particularly in their own end, where they held the potent Penguins without a goal over the final 52:38 after allowing eight goals in the first 67:22 of the series.
The Islanders still are still considered a longshot to advance. The Penguins basically are an all-star team, the Islanders full of grinders and journeymen types aside from a few exceptions. Of course, nobody expected the Isles to reach the playoffs, let alone having stolen home-ice advantage, either.
“Obviously, we believe in ourselves a lot more than people do,” Tavares said. “It’s a great opportunity for us. You see what the Kings did last year.”
Yes, Tavares was invoking the Stanley Cup-winning Kings. These Islanders think anything is possible — and they’ve proving themselves rightful dreamers so far.
No comments:
Post a Comment