The New York Islanders look to rebound in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference final on Wednesday after getting crushed 8-2 by the Tampa Bay Lightning as +140 underdogs in Game 1. The Isles may close as even bigger dogs as they look to avoid a 2-0 hole.
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The Lightning are seemingly the side to back here considering how dominant they looked in the series opener. Tampa Bay was so sharp after a sitting for a week, giving New York little hope to make this a series without a much better defensive performance. The Islanders played great to get here, but this is a huge step up in competition, and it shows.
New York News & Notes
New York was overmatched in Game 1 and obviously needs to find a way to slow the pace of play down or else Game 2 could be a repeat.
The Islanders went with Thomas Greiss in net to start Game 1, but he gave up three goals on just nine shots before being pulled in favor of Semyon Varlamov. However, Varlamov didn’t fare much better on the night, giving up five goals on 25 shots; Varlamov has now allowed 14 goals over his past three appearances.
Limiting shots is the key for New York, and the Islanders did just that in their series clincher against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night as Greiss only needed to make 16 saves to help them advance to this round.
Tampa Bay News & Notes
Tampa Bay cannot put together a much better performance here, but a win is a win no matter how you look at it. The Lightning may have demoralized their opponent with the series-Sportsbook rout, and we will see if that is indeed the case in Game 2.
Tampa Bay should not get too overconfident here because New York is a very well-coached team that has lost consecutive games only once since March 10. The Islanders will undoubtedly make adjustments in an effort to limit the scoring opportunities for the Lightning, although that is also much easier said than done.
Tampa Bay’s offense is firing on all cylinders now, with top scorers like Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov playing some of their best hockey. The duo combined for 10 points in Game 1 with three goals and seven assists.
Betting Pick: OVER 5.5
While New York would appear to need to slow things down to have any shot in this series, that will be a tough task. Instead, the Islanders will probably have to simply try to outscore the Lightning in another high-scoring Game 2, something they are capable of doing in this spot. Look for New York to continue a trend of OVERs cashing as an underdog.