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Posted at 12:35 PM EST

OT included. We played the Islanders in Game 1 and they are even more worthy in Game 2. It really all boils down to whether or not Jaroslav Halak can give the Isles some decent goaltending and whether or not the Isles can stay out of the box. If those two things come to pass like it did in Game 1, then the Islanders win expectation is far greater than the Capitals win expectation. In 5-on-5 play, Washington ranked 16th in the league in goals per game while the Islanders ranked 4th. The Islanders were the top possession team in the NHL this entire year and when they did struggle it was only because of poor goaltending. The Islanders superior talent was on full display in Game 1 and there’s no reason to believe that it won’t continue in Game 2.

If Washington is forced to play a 5-on-5 series, they’re a team in trouble. The Islanders drew up the perfect game plan to keep Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin from going off. They executed that plan to near perfection with defensive stalwarts Nick Leddy and Johnny Boychuk leading the way. Washington also has a plan but they are not deep enough to execute it. Washington’s weak secondary scoring prevents them from sustaining pressure in the offensive end for long stretches. They relied on the opposition taking penalties all year but fewer infractions get called in the playoffs and the Isles were not going to fall victim to that. The Islanders played a smart game. They dominated for extended stretches and had Ovechkin frustrated the entire night. Now they have the Caps on the ropes and they’re not about to let up now. The Islanders struggled to win games down the stretch, which may have hurt their confidence somewhat but one playoff win does wonders for a teams’ psyche. Besides, the Islanders were dominating games and losing down the stretch so it’s not like they were playing poorly, instead it was because they were getting extremely unlucky. The superior team won Game 1 and we’re very confident that they’ll win Game 2 also. 

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