The Islanders roll into MSG looking to stay hot, while the Panthers are playing for home ice against Buffalo and the Red Wings try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive against the Leafs.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen - The Canadian PressIf the NHL regular season is like airplane travel, we’re approaching the time when the final “ding” sounds signaling that we have landed and can start our fun. We’ve nearly arrived at our destination, the NHL playoffs, and the expectations for what lies ahead are high.
While the Islanders are surging despite a roller-coaster season, the Rangers are looking to finish off a spectacular regular season and avoid their first three-game losing streak since January. After Dobson left the game on Thursday, the Islanders’ defencemen stepped up against the Montreal Canadiens and provided a needed offensive boost. Notwithstanding, I have serious doubts about the Islanders’ defencemen’s ability to skate and advance the puck up ice on Saturday as the Islanders try to stretch the zone. Without Dobson, I am skeptical about the Islanders’ ability to create sustained pressure in the offensive zone.
For securing one of the last two spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs, the bar has been set low, as commented upon by most-to-all hockey fans. This makes the fact that the Buffalo Sabres will miss the postseason all the more painful. In the offensive zone, the Sabres had success with a high cycle and five-man rotation. They are replete with puck-movers on the back end and at their best can intersperse passes to their shooters opening up in the slot and working their way to the inside for a low-slot play. When rush chances did emerge, they were organic and buoyed by the center-lane drive from a Sabres defenceman opening up the second wave.
The Panthers have the clear advantage in the underlying stats and, after a really bad March statistically speaking, there are signs Florida has righted the ship. But if Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is playing against Luukkhonen, the Buffalo goaltender has been better in the last two months in GSAx.
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