Stanley Cup Playoffs 2019: Islanders vs. Penguins preview and prediction
Pittsburgh Penguins
Another year, another playoff appearance for the Pittsburgh Penguins. This will be the 13th consecutive season that Penguins will appear in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the longest such streak in the league, with the next closest streak being five consecutive seasons.
The Penguins overcame a lot of consistency issues throughout the season and finished third in the Metropolitan division with 100 points, marking their fourth consecutive season with 100 or more points.
The Penguins finished sixth in the league in goal scoring, and it’s not hard to imagine why. Their renowned core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, and Kris Letang were all premier players at their positions once again this season. Add Jake Guentzel into the mix who eclipsed 40 goals and 70 points for the first time in his career this season, and the Penguins top six becomes exceptionally lethal.
Matt Murray had a rough start to the season, but found his groove after returning from injury, backstopping the Penguins to clinching a playoff spot and eventually avoiding being a wildcard team. Murray finished the season with .919 save percentage, a remarkable finish considering his poor start and injuries throughout the season. He has the ability to go toe to toe with Lehner and Griess throughout the series.
X Factor
The Penguins have the exact opposite problem as the Islanders, can their inconsistent defense hold back the Islanders enough to allow their offense to take control of the series?
The Jack Johnson signing has been about as much of a nightmare as it was expected to be, and then the Penguins went out and acquired Erik Gudbranson alongside him, whose possession numbers mark him as allegedly one of the worst players in the league.
The good news for Pittsburgh is they should get Brian Dumoulin back before game one, and he could solve a lot of the depth issues that they’ve had throughout the season. But if any of him, Letang, or Justin Schultz get injured or don’t perform, it’ll all fall back apart.
Once you look past the Penguins core, no player scored more than 40 points over the season. Only Patric Hornqvist and Bryan Rust eclipsed 30 points. The Penguins core is more than capable of carrying a series, but they will need their depth scoring to show up in order to go far.
Prediction
This series has the potential to turn nasty with how these teams haven’t really been reminded how much they really hate each other in quite a while. If the Islanders can sustain this seasons success, this could be a fun rivalry to watch for years to come.
The Penguins defense hasn’t been very good, but they also haven’t been healthy for most of the season. Getting Dumoulin back is a massive boost for Pittsburgh’s defensive woes, while the Islanders offensive woes aren’t getting potential solutions back. They’ll need to hope that the likes of Anders Lee, Barzal, and Jordan Eberle are up to the task, and that their depth players who’re riding hot streaks like Valterri Flippula don’t go cold.
The Penguins also have the experience in the playoffs for any situation, and will be able to handle whatever the Islanders can throw at them. For what it’s worth, Sidney Crosby has also torched the Islanders worse than any other team he’s faced in his career.
The Islanders will absolutely play with a chip on their shoulders in this series, and their lockdown style will give the Penguins fits on several occassions, but the Penguins star power might be a bit too much for the Islanders to provide an answer too. The Penguins have been masters at capitalizing on their chances over the years, no matter how few chances they get. If the Islanders can’t come up with answers on offense, their goaltending is their only hope, but Murray might be able to match that every step of the way.
Penguins over Islanders in six games