The Eastern Conference Finals will start on Monday at Rogers Place Arena in Edmonton when the No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning take on the No.6 New York Islanders.
The Lightning beat the No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 in the first round and the No. 4 Boston Bruins 4-1 in the second round to advance to the conference finals.
The Islanders made multiple upsets in the first two rounds beating the No. 3 Washington Capitals 4-1 in the first round and the No. 1 Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in the second round. The Islanders have made it to the second round two years in a row under Head Coach Barry Trotz, and after being swept last season by Carolina they will have a shot at the conference title.
The Lightning will advance to their fourth conference final in six seasons and look to advance to the Stanley Cup final for a second time in those same seasons. The Lightning have only won the cup once back in 2004.
The Islanders will make their first run to the conference finals in 27 years. Much like the team in 1993, the Islanders defeated the Capitals in round one and then conquered a winner takes all Game 7 in the second round. The ’93 series ended for the Isles in what was previously known as the Wales Conference Final. They lost 4-1 to that year’s cup winner, the Montreal Canadiens.
The Islanders are 2-1-0 in the regular season against the Lightning.
The Lightning will play for the first time in a week after they finished their round two series against the Bruins back on Aug. 31.
“This will be a real good test,” Trotz said Sunday. “The Lightning have been off for a little bit, they’re fresh, they’ve been waiting for our series to end. They went to Edmonton yesterday, they probably practiced. The time change that we’re going to have, all that, that’s what we’re going to deal with today…they’re a little bit ahead of us because they’ve been watching and scouting. We’ve been trying to do the same thing, but we’ve been trying to focus on the moment. Lately it was the Philadelphia Flyers, and now that moment’s gone, and our focus will be Tampa now.”
The Lightning have been without one of their top goal scorers, Steven Stamkos, since the beginning of the playoffs and will remain unfit to play in the conference finals. Forward Brayden Point leads the Lightning this postseason with six goals and 18 points. Ondrej Palat is currently tied for the longest goal streak (4) during the playoffs in Tampa Bay history.
Anthony Beauvillier leads the Islanders in goals with eight and Josh Bailey leads in assists with 15 and points with 17.
Andrei Vasilesvskiy is the Lightning’s main starting goalie and was in net for all 13 postseason games. In the series-winning game against the Bruins, Vasilevskiy stopped 45 of 47 shots faced. Last season he was awarded the Vezina Trophy for being the top goalie in the NHL and is a finalist this season. During the 2020 playoffs, Vasilevskiy is 10-3 with 1.91 goals-against average and a league-best .931 save percentage.
An advantage the Islanders will have in their series is the ability to have two strong goalies. Semyon Varlamov started in every game but two in the postseason. He is 9-4 with two shutouts in 14 games. He has a 2.00 GAA, and a .921 save percentage. Thomas Greiss has played in three and started in two postseason games. Greiss has won both games he started in including the Game 7 victory to advance the Islanders to the conference finals. Griess has a 1.08 GAA, and a .960 save percentage.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals is on Monday at 8pm.
For more NHL coverage, click here.
