Repetto: Islanders Need To Look Ahead To Get the Series Even

The loss of game one was obviously not ideal for the Islanders. For the most part, the Isles struggled to get shots on net and allowed one of the Bruins’ most prolific players — David Pastrnak — to get too many opportunities on net which resulted in three out of five goals for Boston.

That being said though, Barry Trotz’s group did manage to get onto the boards first and were tied going into the third period. Seeing that they have the potential to bounce back and not allow the Bruins to get the best of them as they had shown in the middle period is a huge plus. However, this needs to be something that carries into game two Monday and the rest of the series. 

WE SEE YOU PELECH. pic.twitter.com/M4HP16zoiG

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) May 30, 2021

Another huge plus to how the Islanders performed was their goaltending. Without Ilya Sorokin in net, that score would definitely be inflated much higher for Boston. He made countless saves, tracked the puck really well, and stopped Brad Marchand and David Krejci with their chances on net. If he gets the nod for game two, the hope is he carries the same energy and type of play that is going to be needed in order to help the Islanders to come home with the series tied.

“We got to challenge them a little bit more, we backed off, they’re going to make plays through you. All that being said, you are correct about that, we got to tighten up there. We are going to need more from our lines,” said Trotz in his interview with NHL Network. “I really felt that I only had really, probably one line that was really on top of their game. The other lines had spurts, but we’re going to have to be right through our whole lineup, we’re going to have to be much better.”

READ MORE: Taub: Missed opportunities crucial in game one loss for Islanders
The Isles are also in desperate need of more of their top players to start standing out more and getting some points on the board, starting with Mathew Barzal. He has had chances and came close at times, but in this round especially, he is going to have to start converting on more of his opportunities and taking more a few more risks to create offense. He is no stranger to making big plays and therefore should be able to gain some here in round two. 
Game one as a result was not in the Islanders’ favor, but this series is long from being over. In order to present a fighting chance in this series, a game two win would be a much needed starting point. 
 
 
Follow Bri on Twitter at @RepettoBri