After an exciting and emotional Game 6 win at Nassau Coliseum, the New York Islanders will play the Washington Capitals in Game 7 on Monday night at the Verizon Center.
The Islanders have a chance to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1992-93. The Capitals haven’t advanced to Round 2 since 2011-12 when they lost to the New York Rangers in seven games.
The Rangers are waiting to play the winner of this series after eliminating the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games. The Blueshirts and Capitals have met in the playoffs four times since 2008-09, while the two New York teams last squared off in postseason play in 1993-94.
Here’s a preview of Game 7.
Date, Time, TV Info: Monday, April 27 at 7:30 pm on NBC Sports Network
Leading Scorers: Nicklas Backstrom (WSH), six points. John Tavares (NYI), six points
Key Player(s) for Islanders: Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy make up the Islanders’ first pairing and must play well against the Capitals’ superstar forward duo of Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Ovechkin for New York to have any chance at winning.
Even though Boychuk and Leddy have played the majority of their even-strength shifts against Washington’s best forwards, the Islanders are still controlling more than 52 percent of 5-on-5 shot attempts when this pairing is on the ice. Boychuk (one assist) and Leddy (five assists) also will play a key role in New York’s offense, both at even strength and on the power play.
Key Player(s) for Capitals: Washington captain Alex Ovechkin has four points (two goals, two assists) in this series and will play in the eighth Game 7 of his career. He’s tallied two goals, two assists and 32 shots in seven career Game 7s, but he hasn’t scored a goal since 2009 when Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins eliminated the Caps in the conference semifinals.
The Capitals have lost three of the four games in this series in which Ovechkin hasn’t scored a goal.
Goaltending Matchup: Braden Holtby is one of the reasons why Washington hasn’t been eliminated yet. He’s posted an excellent .945 save percentage and a 1.75 goals against average. Holtby also hasn’t given up more than two goals since Game 1.
Jaroslav Halak has tallied a .926 save percentage and a 2.34 GAA this series, and his most impressive performance came in Saturday’s Game 6 win when he made 38 saves on 39 shots. The Islanders are hoping Halak continues his stellar play against the Capitals when facing elimination. He’s posted a .977 save percentage in four career elimination games versus Washington, including a Round 1, Game 7 win in 2010 when he stopped 41 of 42 shots.
Prediction: At the start of the playoffs I picked the Islanders to win the Eastern Conference and I’m not giving up on them. New York wins 3-1.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
