Islanders Postseason Begins

Hello there NY Islander fans, I am coming to you live from NYCB where the NY Islanders postseason gets underway as they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at 7:30 pm et.  The Islanders are coming off a remarkable 103 point season under new head coach Barry Trotz.  The Islanders are expecting to advance deep into the playoffs due to their success this year under the tutelage of Trotz.  It will be a tough matchup trying to slow down the dynamic offense that is the Penguins mostly in due to the talent of Crosby, Malkin and Guentzel.  If the Islanders want to score goals and get out of the 1st round this year they will have to take advantage of Matt Murrays weak glove side as well as take advantage of the fact that they have home ice in the upcoming series.  Applying physicality in the fore-check is another element the Islanders absolutely must possess vs. the Penguins in this battle of top tier Eastern Conference squads here in the 1st round. Coming into this matchup the Islanders must stay out of the penalty box and  not take silly penalties because Pittsburgh has a top 5 power play unit this season.  Another key to an Islander victory is goaltending, they will need the top tier play of Lehner and Greiss to be nothing short of just that this series and try to add to their 11 shutouts combined on the year.  Matt Murray will be the likely starter inbetween the pipes for the Pens and like we relayed earlier, the Isles need to take advantage of that weak glove side of his.  On the other end Robin Lehner is likely to start game 1, with always the possibility of a mix and match between himself and Thomas Greiss.  The NYCB crowd should be nothing short of electric tonight which the Islanders really will need to feed off of in order to help themselves gain momentum not only in tonight's game but the entire series.