After not scoring a goal since game one of the First Round against the Washington Capitals, Jordan Eberle found the back of the net 4:33 into the game to tie the score at 1 apiece. That would be the only highlight for the New York Islanders as they were clearly tired and out-matched in game one of the Eastern Conference Final.
It was goals galore for the Tampa Bay Lightning as they drubbed the Islanders 8-2 and dominated all facets of the game. Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov both had five points each with Yanni Gourde also adding a pair of goals. Watching this game is was clear that the Lightning were well-rested and prepared to do serious damage, they were outskating the Islanders, they were making accurate and precise passes to set up most if not all their goals, and most importantly, all 34 shots the Lightning took on Monday night were on net.
Barry Trotz was given the strategic dilemma of starting the Game Seven winner Thomas Griess in the net or trusting his reliable starter who brought the Islanders to the Conference Final in Semyon Varlamov. Initially starting Griess looked to be the biggest mistake of the night as he allowed 3 goals on 9 shots, unfortunately, Varlamov didn’t fare much better as he allowed 5 goals over the course of the remainder of the game (the final 49 minutes of the game). Both goalies were awful in the game and neither can feel too good about starting again, as the body language of both goalies showed defeat and urgency to have the day end. This leaves head coach Barry Trotz in an even greater dilemma than the one he had entering tonight, who does he start for Game Two? I honestly can’t say who Trotz should go with and frankly, the loss can’t be entirely pinned on the goalies either, the mightly defense of the Islanders looked slow and clumsy throughout the night.
We have watched both opening games of the Conference Final round. In both games, we saw two teams look like they lost an important element of their game as both games appeared one-sided for different reasons. The Las Vegas Golden Knights looked like they couldn’t find their offense and the Islanders looked like they couldn’t find their defense. there can only be two possible explanations as both teams have proven that they deserve to be in the Conference Final and both rosters have shown excellence in those areas of struggle. Either both the Knights and the Islanders are exhausted after playing in a Game Seven a few nights ago and having little time off or the opponents are better teams and it’s understandable for the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning to be in control as they are both destined to play in the Stanley Cup Final, that former seems like a more viable option as both the Knights and Islanders are well-coached teams that will make adjustments.
