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New York moves forward with a blank slate based on 56 games

They finally finished some good goals, and on we go, despite massive shot against/shots attempted disparities. What matters is who scored most goals. Not, the way you draw it up, but so be it. Round two, fresh slate against a different team.
Of course I wanted them to win, that's why everyone is here.
Boston will be formidable, so will every team in the second round. We play games and see what happens, they did open 5-0 vs Bruins, and took last game to overtime, even pulling the goalie tied & not being scored on.

New York Advances To Second Round.....Scores some goals

No problem here with them bucking their 56 game trends for a game, they were due for their best game, and still were outshot 37-24, but found a way as Pens had another 78 shot attempts. I'm estatic, round II here they come.

New York Steals Game 5 Thanks To Sorokin

Happy they won, but stolen games are not the way. All Sorokin.

New York Ties Series.....

56 Games Screams New York Will Lose Series

I did not write all those negative entries calling for a housecleaning starting in January because I wanted to. Simply put the offensive struggles continue, they handed away home ice, and got one goal from a scorer (Beauvillier) while Pens have their secondary scoring only getting better with Malkin returning with two assist, and Carter red-hot with Zucker. To lose game three with Clutterbuck scoring twice, Mayfield scoring against a very beatable goalie is a terrible sign. Varlamov did not have much help, but did not make his saves. New York got the powerplay advantages, and still this is where they likely lose this series unless something not seen against top teams in 56 games happens, and that's scoring from players paid to produce.
What bothers me is the 0-10 with one overtime win, one overtime loss in road in 56 games, the payroll has never been higher at close to 90 million, and they have veterans who are slowing down & not scoring, who struggled long before Lee got hurt. Barzal is not producing, nor is Eberle while Komarov sits on top line banging bodies. This was not a team at the cap floor outgunned offensively for the first time since the dynasty. What you see on Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Colorado (despite their generational losing) is the speed/skill needed to win a Cup. Boston has a scoring line, and a little more & they don't seem on the cup radar anymore. Frankly this series looks like it's over soon unless something very unexpected happens not seen in 56 games.
Can it happen? Highly unlikely. Impossible? No.

What is New York Fighting?

Updated: For the moment the full site header works again so no more fighting that.
Tweleve road games against three teams they went 0-10 against (with one overtime win/one overtime loss in last game vs Boston) to go with their offensive struggles, high shots against totals in two games. And frankly if the mind games of having Varlamov not getting his own net on game-day (customary for starters) lead to a soft goal & him looking at his glove, that's not a good strategy because the Pens are not rushing into emergency afternoon meetings to again scout a ten plus year veteran.
And this was a team that last won a regulation game against a playoff team on 4/6 & that was a 1-0 home win against Washington after their 6-4 win against the Caps on 4/1.
You are what the record is, we have had a large enough sample of work to see the problems. Pens tied a game here with the goalie pulled and won in overtime.

Game One: Goes to the City !!!!!!!

They need to be better, 18 shots allowed in first, Sorokin down 2-1 went post to post and saved them going down 3-1. I fully expect him to get more dominating if he takes #1 full time, but Pens overall speed (even without Malkin) is so much improved up and down their roster from 2019. They did enough for today but blowing lead in final three minutes is not the way. Not surprised Palmieri scored, he was brought here for this. Komarov was banging everyone and almost set up a goal. Enough for game one, but will need more, Pens are beatable, and this is not the 1980's, they need to come back here up 2-0, with Pens soul-searching. Before this is over we will likely see Malkin, and I do expect the refs to hand Pens more powerplays.
Game One--To the city, enough of the mickey mouse LI stuff, even Dolan's flunkies are selling their arena as NYC with their corporate partners on every release.

New York Playoffs....What can happen?

Reece Newkirk ELC

New York Playoff Schedule Rd One:

New York 4th seed at Pittsburgh....Varlamov leaves before third period.

We got to see New York pull goalie tied. No goals. All drama left is why Varlanov left to start third, and Jennings Trophy.

So how does this play out for New York?

I'm the person who called for a full house-cleaning by the end of January because they could not score, so let's not forget that. Having written that they got a re-set which saved them when Buffalo got sick, and valuted them all the way to first place, but we kept seeing the same signs of not being able to score surface, and simply not win on the road in empty buildings vs top teams before Lee got hurt.
I'm still very concerned with scoring, the level of play, but here we are, third or fourth, they have largely been out played with one regulation win in a full month. (before Saturday vs Devils)
My honest view is a second re-set after Monday will tell us the story, but it won't be near what worked last summer in a bubble format, even if they sit as long as Vancouver-Calgary mop up their schedules on 5/19.
They have defense/goaltending to win a cup, not the powerplay/offense, but they play games, then we find out, strange things happen all ways. NHL already wants to rush playoff start by Saturday despite Vancouver-Calgary playing through 5/19.
One final thing, New York must beat Boston in regulation Monday, Bruins control this tie-breaker, so if the game is tied in final minute or two, New York has to pull the goalie in a tied game. Overtime/shootout of any kind sends New York to Pittsburgh as 4th seed.

Bridgeport Islanders Rebranding

All changes to prospect site have been made for teams AHL rebranding.
The historical site was updated to include playoffs from 2002 through the 2021 season.
Bottom line is the baseball stadium/team are gone, and could have worked out as AHL team leaving the state or going out of business. You want me to write something positive, there it is. The City of Bridgeport easily could have decided to demolish the old arena for something more productive. After the first two seasons, it's been very rough for a hockey fan supporting that team, and the Boe family legacy led to Charles Wang saving it from bankruptcy, but had no success after it's second season.

No regulation wins in a month for New York/Bridgeport Update

Beyond three games vs a 5th seed.
Any chance at division title gone, home ice (granted it's not home at Barclay's) gone, now they go play on road where even in empty buildings they have struggled badly.
The rest was there or no less than other teams, it was not like past seasons where they got 1-2 (two day breaks) & opposition would get three day breaks and practice time at home.
And of course the scoring issues continue, they had to add Palmieri, Johnston on first line with Martin was not going to work, and bad news is Beauvillier (who carries scoring) is due for a cold spell.
Vancouver finishes 5/19, not sure how NHL starts any playoffs before that time, final game in Boston 5/10.

X-New York Returns To NHL Playoffs

Did not think they would post back to back shutouts, but here we are. They deserved both wins, this offense as usual goes as Beauvillier does, and Bailey assisted on every goal. New York has earned the right to participate. A lot of work ahead, what impressed me with last two games was the physical beating the opposition took, but New York has it's road season trends which has to change, but today is a day for our fans to enjoy.
I have also made the decision not to refer to this as Covid Cup playoffs any longer. We have had 48 game seasons, shortended seasons, and despite playing seven teams/eight times, with rescheduled games, in empty buildings, this would be a legitimate playoff with spots not awarded months later to twenty four teams with unbalanced games played at the time or a play-in round.