@CoopsTroops @Rangsey @justaBoss Congrats! You deserved it!

I'll say it again: Leo Komarov is a good player.

But why would the Islanders play their best forward with a 4th liner/extra forward at the NHL level?

I'm not blaming Trotz for us not winning the cup. If it weren't for Trotz, I don't think we would have made it this far.

But I still don't understand playing Barzal with Komarov.

Maybe I’m brain dead but what did they earn? I would say just being Loghtning fans but justaBoss is a Stars fan

I'm a Stars fan yes, but TB is probably my favorite in the East since my brother is a Tampa fan and I've sort of adopted them as my second team if Stars isn't in the playoffs.

That being said, I'm also a fan of an upset story so I wouldn't have minded Isles winning that series.

Crazy, but a lot of talk the last 5-6 years about why paying a goalie top dollar (generally $9M+) was a waste b/c guys like Binnington and Murray were winning Cups on ELC's. Well, now we have the league's top 2 goalies in Vas and Price in the SCF and both are among top 3 highest paid at their position. I guess there's more than one way to get it done. Personally, I've spoken out against just about every huge money, long term goalie contract in the last 5 years simply b/c of STL and PIT. I never had any issues with Vas, but Price has certainly proven his value this season. For the record, Bob's contract still sucks.

I can’t stop thinking about the games outcome being different if Wahlstrom was in the lineup. I know you don’t wanna mess w the lineup after winning, but Zajac made a key play to giving up the shortie and Wahlstrom very well could’ve scored if he was in the lineup. He better play every game next year as long as he’s healthy

Barzal in tears postgame#Isles @NYIslanders pic.twitter.com/R6pmstpopY

— x - Isles on MSG+ (@IslesMSGN) June 26, 2021

Trotz be like: need Komarov at the next Barzal interview, can’t trust the kid.

Komarov is signed for another year ... that would be good ...

IF THEY STOPPED PLAYING HIM WITH BARZAL lol

Yeah, the “what if” factor kills me lol. I can accept losing if that’s the best we had to offer. Wahlstrom scored goals at a higher rate than 97% of NHL forwards. He was above average defensively. It’s really inexcusable that he didn’t play in this series.

Komarov had 0 shots on goal in games 5,6,7. Zajac had 2. Wahlstrom had 6 shots on goal in his last 2 games against Pittsburgh in round 1 - and he left early in the 3rd period after matheson injured him.

Really nice work from Wahlstrom in a small role so far. The difference between the goal and assist rates make me laugh, I think I've played with a few Wahlstroms in beer league. #Isles https://t.co/ds6PWftOie pic.twitter.com/BHJ6MOR38N

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) April 22, 2021

It’s fair to say Trotz is both the reason why they were in this series and the reason why they didn’t advance.

Danault vs Point.
Gourde line vs Caufield
And I get to rediscover my hatred for Perry again.
Should be a fun series.

Price vs Vasy

And McDonagh + Sergachev against the team that traded them as prospects

So the lines will be:
Palat - Point - Kucherov
Killorn - Cirelli - Stamkos
Goodrow - Gourde - Coleman
Colton - Johnson - Maroon

Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher
Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Byron - Kotkaniemi - Anderson
Armia - Staal - Perry

Montréal would want Danault vs. Point, and the other 3 lines don’t matter. Tampa Bay probably wants Gourde vs. Suzuki and Johnson vs. Danault.

Perhaps this has been mentioned elsewhere, but the NYI's 11 goals vs TB were tied for the seventh fewest in a 7-game series in NHL history, and fewest since SJ's 10 vs Kings nearly a decade ago. NHL record is 8 (Vancouver vs Boston). The point of the game is scoring goals.

— Bolt Prospects (@BoltProspects) June 26, 2021

Bit harsh calling Drouin a prospect.



I'd think the Suzuki Caufield is the only matchup Tampa chases. They'll try to keep Point and Kuch away from Danault as often as they can but they won't actively try and deploy the 4th line whenever Danault is over the boards.

Palat - Point - Kucherov VS Lehkonen - Danault - Gallagher = Tie but edge to Tampa cause MTL needs their line out to negate Tampas offence. Tampa will look to get their guys on at any chance these guys are off.

Killorn - Cirelli - Stamkos VS Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield = MTL, I think this line just always seems to find a way to create. All 3 guys have been superb. But Cirelli and Killorn are good enough to be up for the task. We even could see the Gourde line take the matchup solely for defensive and physical work against them.

Goodrow - Gourde - Coleman VS Byron - Kotkaniemi - Anderson = Tie but edge to MTL, KK has been been great and Anderson has been turning it up lately. Byron's been real solid too. But once again, this line for Tampa has stepped up when they've needed too, they're quite good. Tampa either uses this line to negate the Caufield line or they hope this line wins this matchup and creates a gap MTL need's to fill.

Colton - Johnson - Maroon VS Armia - Staal - Perry = MTL, NYI thought they had the best "4th Line" in hockey but thats wrong imo, these guys have been the best 4th line in hockey this playoffs. These guys have allowed MTL to create a steady flow to their game because more often than not MTL's 4th line starts demanding a better matchup because they've been steam rolling other 4th lines.

Where’d i call Drouin a prospect? I called McDonagh and Sergachev prospects

Lmao if the media had any balls they would ask Trotz why he didn’t make adjustments. Instead they treat him like he’s Scotty bowman.

I feel bad for Barzal. He was practically told to turn a lemon into a Ferrari for 7 games. Same thing happened in our Florida series where Quennville had Marchment with Barkov. I know Q and Trotz are experienced winners, but you have to surround your best players with talent to support them.

Yeah the frustrating part is Barzal created more than any player in this series. (Kucherov and point were right behind him). So to not have a lw that can capitalize on his skillset sucks. Beauvillier, palmieri, Wahlstrom...I mean it’s not like the isles didn’t have options lol

Yeah of course Tampa Bay isn’t going to be putting Johnson’s line out all the time just for a matchup, but the habs will try to chase the Point line with Danault even when they don’t have last change. The Danault line is pretty much all defense though now, since Gallagher’s shot is terrible after his thumb injury.

I’m really interested in how Montréal’s PK and Tampa Bay’s PP match up. Montréal is 1st in PK% in a playoffs (14+ games) and Tampa Bay is 0.1% behind the 1981 Islanders for the highest PP% in a playoffs (14+ games).

Obviously Tampa Bay has 2 of the best one-timers in the NHL on either side in Stamkos and Kucherov, but Point is extremely dangerous in the middle as well. Montréal’s PK forwards are very agressive, especially Joel Armia, who is fast and hard on his stick and is a short-handed threat. The D do a good job down low, while not screening Price, since screened shots are his weakness.

Under Richardson, the habs have gone with Danault - Lehkonen to start, then Byron - Armia, then Suzuki - Toffoli. Although if there’s a face off, Danault is always out there. On D he goes Chiarot - Weber then Merrill - Edmundson. Although it hasn’t been uncommon for Chiarot - Weber to play the entire 2 minutes over the past few games. (It would normally be Petry over Merrill, but Petry isn’t as good as Merrill defensively right now because he’s injured)

They better get rid of Komarov this offseason. He is literally just a pylon and a roster spot filler. You gotta feel bad for guys like Barzal who really put in the work.

I’ve had my fair share of experience with benders on my line, it cost us many tournaments and it was really not pleasant. I felt what Barzal was feeling, it almost made me tear up. When you play your heart out you should be rewarded not punished. Feel bad for him, he’s a great player and he should get rewarded for everything that he’s done for this team.

Lol. My bad. Misread.