With the Isles now down 2-1 in Conference Quarterfinals against the Sabres, it’s obvious to say that things are only going to get tougher from here on out. As a matter of fact, if the Islanders have any chance in keeping their playoff hopes alive tonight, they have to get traffic in front of the net and take the body.

And do it all night long.

Despite the fact that the Islanders still aren’t out of this series, make no mistakes about it, they’re on some extremely thin ice. Failing to amount any serious kind of offense throughout the series, the Islanders have kept themselves out of two games that they could have came out victorious in if they scored a few more goals.

Let’s be honest here, while the Islanders haven’t played their best hockey in this series and have failed to put forth a solid effort for a full 60-minutes, the Buffalo Sabres have totally underestimated them and haven’t played their best hockey either. With that being said, if the Isles can get back on track as soon as possible and reclaim some of the passion they had in game 2, they could still shock the rest of the league and take the Sabres down.

In order for that to happen though, they Islanders need to get the powerplay going.

Unable to break the wall the Sabres have set up along their blue line during the power play, the Isles have been forced to basically play dump and chase with the man advantage and haven’t been able to get the cycle going. As well, when they finally get the cycle going in Buffalo’s zone, they’ve been passing the puck way too much, instead of taking shots and peppering Ryan Miller, who’s looked far from invincible in the series.

If the Isles can get more than 22 shots against Miller and get some bodies in front of him, they can and will be able to score some goals. However, in order to maintain the puck long enough to get it into the Sabres zone, the Islanders need to play physical and have to attack Buffalo’s defensemen, who have been playing a huge role in the team’s offense during the course of this series.

If the Sabres defenseman can’t make the first pass out of their zone, the Islanders are going to have a ton of chances on offense. As well, they’ll limit the load on DiPietro, who’s been forced to make over 30 saves a night all season. Despite the fact that it’s obvious that DP can handle the workload, giving the opposition the opportunity to take that many shots seriously limits the Islanders puck possession time and time in the attack zone, therefore eliminating any chance the team has at amounting any type of serious offense.

In the end, tonight’s game will come down to how desperate the Islanders are willing to play. Do they want to fight in the corners and skate as hard as they possibly can and hang on Buffalo all night long, or do they want to sit back and kill penalties and watch the Sabres skate again?

I guess we’re going to have to wait and find out.

Posted under Isles 2006-07, Pregame Musings