Florida Panthers: Top 3 players who must step up to beat Islanders
To beat the New York Islanders, the Florida Panthers will need these players to lead the way.
For the first time since 2016, the Florida Panthers are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yes, it took an expanded postseason for them to get in, but who cares? They’re in! Waiting for them in the play-in round will be the same team that eliminated them in 2016 – the New York Islanders.
The Panthers are going to be the underdogs in this series. During the regular season, the Islanders beat the Panthers each of the three times they met and outscored them 8-4. However, an upset is quite possible in a five-game series. But for that to happen, the Panthers will need a few of their players to step up.
3. Anton Stralman
Aaron Ekblad will be important to the Panthers’ success as well, but Anton Stralman might be the most important defenseman on the team against the Islanders. That’s because it wasn’t Ekblad who drew the most minutes against Islanders star center Mathew Barzal during the regular season. Rather, it was Stralman.
To beat the Isles, you’ve got to shut down Barzal because the Islanders rely pretty heavily on him. And to be fair, he can be handful to try and stop. Barzal didn’t win the Fastest Skater Competition for no reason. He’s lightning fast. And what’s scarier is Barzal can make plays at his top speed.
During the regular season, the Panthers were outscored 3-0 at 5v5 when Stralman was on the ice against Barzal. Either Stralman needs to do a better job or Ekblad needs to be the primary guy assigned to shutdown Barzal. In either case, Stralman is going to have to do better against the Islanders.
The Panthers signed Stralman last summer to ease the pressure on Ekblad. If he can help the Panthers limit the damage done by Barzal, he’ll be worth his contract.
2. Noel Acciari
Another key part of shutting down Barzal will be finding the right centers to match up against him. The Vincent Trocheck trade all but ensures the heavy lifting will be done by Aleksander Barkov. It also ensures third-line center Noel Acciari will bear a lot of responsibility as well, especially if trade deadline acquisition Erik Haula struggles.
Acciari has been a surprising star for the Panthers this season. He set a career-high with 20 goals and 27 points in 66 games. Before coming to Florida, Acciari had 18 goals and 31 points in 180 games with the Boston Bruins.
In the playoffs, having depth is key. To win, you need your secondary scorers to complement your best scorers. And when your best scorers aren’t scoring, your secondary scorers need to step up and take charge. That’s why Acciari is so important for the Panthers.
Also, when Acciari played against Barzal this season, nothing happened. And that’s a good thing. Zero goals were scored when Acciari and Barzal faced each other. Granted, it was just over a nine-minute sample size. But I’m sure the Panthers would happily accept nothing happening when Barzal’s on the ice.
Players like Acciari can emerge as heroes in the postseason. He didn’t do much in Boston (seven points in 35 postseason games), but this is a different Acciari.
1. Sergei Bobrovsky
Sergei Bobrovsky will likely determine if the Florida Panthers beat the Islanders or not. When you look at the Panthers and Islanders, if you toss out the Isles season sweep, the two teams are pretty much even as far as skaters. The biggest difference is in the net.
Thomas Greiss struggled down the stretch for the Islanders, but 8 games against the Panthers, Greiss has a 5-2-1 record with a .930% save percentage. That’s before considering how incredible he was against the Panthers in 2016 (.944% save percentage). So it’s hard to imagine he won’t get the nod in net against the Panthers. Backup goalie Semyon Varlamov (8-3-1, .922% save percentage) has good numbers against them as well.
Bobrovsky, on the other hand, has struggled mightily this season. His .900% save percentage was his lowest since the 2011-12 season. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner has usually been reliable, but this season, he has been awful. That said, Bobrovsky was able to rebound from a sub-par 2019-20 season to help the Columbus Blue Jackets upset the Tampa Bay Lightning. So there is hope.
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What’s even more encouraging is Bobrovsky has had a lot of success against the Islanders in the past. In 26 games, he has a 16-10-0 record against them, posting an impressive .928% save percentage. Bobrovsky’s going to need to play like the goalie the Panthers thought they were getting when they gave him a seven-year, $10 million AAV deal.