Thomas Greiss made 16 saves for The New York Islanders in a 4-0 shutout to eliminate the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 7 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday.
According to NBC Press Box around 2.7 million people tuned into the action making it the most viewed game of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the most viewed Game Seven in the first two rounds of the Playoffs since Capitals vs. Rangers in 2015.
Head Coach Barry Trotz made the decision to replace starter Semyon Varlamov in net after he allowed nine goals in the past two games that were overtime losses to prevent New York from ending the series.
“The last two games they got to Varlamov a little bit in terms of that, and he’s played a lot of great hockey for us,” Trotz said. “I wanted the freshness. … I also knew that with ‘Greisser,’ just his demeanor, that he’d be a good choice for us. We’ve been blessed with two goalies. You try to ride the hot guy as long as you can, and if you have to go to the next guy, you do that.”
The Isles got the lead early in the first period from some unlikely goal scorers. Defenseman Scott Mayfield netted his first NHL postseason goal about halfway through the first.
“Game-winner in Game 7 to go to the Eastern Conference Final, I don’t think anyone thought I’d be scoring it,” Mayfield said. “But I had a lane and just happy I could put it away.”
Another Defenseman Andy Greene got on the board for the Isles, making it 2-0 before the period ended.
Halfway through the second Josh Bailey set-up Brock Nelson in a two on one rush to advance the Isles lead to 3-0.
“Everybody wants to score goals and get on the attack,” Nelson said. “Thought we had a pretty balanced score sheet up and down the roster. Contributions from the defensemen today, every line getting in on it, guys stepping up and making plays at the right time. We were doing good things to create chances and capitalize on them.”
The Islanders fourth goal was an empty-net from Anthony Beauvillier with 6:18 left in the third.
Greiss, who played in his first Game 7 in a Stanley Cup Playoff Series, made seven saves in the third to maintain the shutout. He is now the second goalie for the Islanders to win a Game 7 with a shutout.
“Anytime a goalie gets a shutout in a Game 7, you’ve got to give it to him,” Mayfield said. “He played unbelievable, some big saves. Just the way he came in after not playing a couple, there was kind of some talk about who was going to be in net, and he got the nod and ran with it. Couldn’t be more happy for him. Great teammate, great guy, so I’m really happy for him.”
The Flyers saw the return of Sean Coutuier, who played on a sprained MCL in his knee after a collision with Islanders Mathew Barzal in Game 5. Couturier was determined unfit to play in Game 6. The Flyer also had Oskar Lindlom back for his second game after recovering from cancer in July.
The Islander will now head to the Edmonton bubble to face-off against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Finals.
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