RTP Daily, September 6th: Islanders Move On, Round 3 Begins

On the final day of the second round, only two teams remained to play their seventh game in the Toronto bubble. With the Tampa Bay Lightning waiting for their next victim opponent, the New York Islanders held the Philadelphia Flyers at bay to close out the series.

Saturday’s Games

New York Islanders 4, Philadelphia Flyers 0, NYI wins series 4-3

• It was a fitting ending to a series that thrived off its lower pace of play, with the combined 42 shots on goal being the third lowest total of these playoffs so far. But it was Barry Trotz’ Islanders who managed to find the scoreboard, with the unlikely heroes Scott Mayfield and Andy Greene scoring their first and second goals of the playoffs respectively. It was already more than enough to hold on for the win after only the first period./

• Thomas Greiss’ shutout performance can’t be ignored, as he stopped all of the Flyers’ 16 shots to keep them in it. New York’s defensive system did a bulk of the work for him by shutting down any semblance of an offensive opportunity for Philadelphia, but he’s been stellar all season.
• Sean Couturier, who was questionable to play heading into the matchup, revealed post-game that he’d been dealing with a sprained MCL. He definitely didn’t seem to be on his top game, so hopefully he didn’t set himself back even further by playing injured.
• Lastly, there are some sizeable pick implications for the Senators here, as the Islanders’ 1st round pick is now moved into the 28-31 range. And if they go all the way to being Stanley Cup champions, they fetch an extra third round pick./

Sunday’s Games

Dallas Stars @ Vegas Golden Knights, series tied 0-0, 8:00pm EST

With New York and Tampa Bay travelling to the Edmonton bubble, game one of the Western Conference Finals kicks off tomorrow between Dallas and Vegas.

And to my dismay, it just so happens to collide with Shapovalov’s 7:00pm round-of-16 match against Goffin. Go Shapo!