Three Storylines to watch as New York Islanders look to eliminate Boston Bruins

1. Which stars will make the difference for their teams?

Hockey is a team game and that is never more so the case than in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but star power can make a big difference and the heavy hitters will have a major say in how Game 6 unfolds tonight.

We’ve seen throughout this series that, despite dominating at 5-on-5 for the majority of the time, the Boston Bruins haven’t been able to get the job done as opposed to the New York Islanders who have taken full advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

From Semyon Varlamov, who boasts a .925 Save Advantage and a 2.72 Goals Against Average so far this postseason, to stud forward Mathew Barzal who has scored in three straight games and has nine points in the Playoffs, the Isles have been getting contributions from their big-name players as well as up and down the lineup.

As for the Bruins, they threw no less than 44 shots on goal in Game 5 but couldn’t find a way to get the job done despite the Islanders scoring five times on just 19 shots, and they’ve also failed to execute on special teams which has cost them big time so far.

Goaltending has also been an issue for the Bruins as we discussed in the previous slide, while the Perfection Line has struggled to wreak their usual havoc at the Nassau Coliseum, with the B’s 1-5 in their last six games on Long Island, which isn’t a good omen for tonight’s contest.

With all that considered, whichever team can get the very best out of their stars tonight with everything on the line will stand the better chance of claiming victory, so the New York Islanders will be hoping that Varlamov, Barzal and company can maintain their hot streak and clinch the series, while the Boston Bruins will need stellar goaltending and the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak can put the team on their back and force a Game 7.