On Thursday, May 20, the New York Islanders dropped their second straight game to the Pittsburgh Penguins by a score of 5-4. With their backs up against the wall, New showed why they are the real deal. The Islanders were able to blank the Penguins, winning back-to-back games to move on.

Although the Islanders won the series in six games, at one point they did trail two games to one. There were tough moments for the Islanders during the series. Not everything was smooth sailing.

After Game 3, the tide was beginning to turn in the Penguins’ favor, and it was not looking good for the Islanders.

Islanders Goaltender Semyon Varlamov looked weak, giving up an easy goal in Game 2 and not making any big-time saves for the Islanders in Game 3. The Penguins’ offense looked better than the Islanders. Pittsburgh consistently had more puck possession and more offensive zone time. On top of that, the Penguins beat the Islanders to loose pucks, won the battles in the corner and the results were showing: Pittsburgh had a series lead.

In Game 4, the Islanders got a statement win with a dominant performance. For the first time in the series, the winning team had won the game by more than one goal. Saturday at the Coliseum was all systems go for the Islanders. The first line with Mat Barzal, Jordan Eberle and Leo Komarov was buzzing, having a lot more time, space and possession of the puck than they had seen so far throughout the series. Everything was clicking.

However, going back to Pittsburgh and winning Game 5 on the road inside a loud PPG Paints Arena would be challenging.

The Islanders played a pretty bad first period but managed to tie the game up at one in the final minute of the first period. To follow their mediocre period, the Islanders followed it up with one of the worst periods of hockey the team has ever played. The Islanders were outshot in the second period 20-4 and somehow only trailed by a single goal heading into the third. Despite being outshot again in the third period, the Islanders tied the game to send it to overtime.

Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin, playing his first-ever season in the NHL, was cool, calm and collected, stopping every shot he faced in the two overtimes. Ilya Sorokin bailed the Islanders out countless times, as the team was outshot 50 to 28. Josh Bailey capitalized off a fortunate bounce and stole Game 5 for the Islanders, giving the Islanders a chance to clinch the series at the Nassau Coliseum.

Game 6 was all Islanders. There was no way the Islanders were going to lose this game. This game was 28 years in the making. Every Islanders player and fan knew it. The Penguins got on the board early, but it did not matter. The Islanders came back to tie the game three times. The Islanders combined for three goals in two minutes and 59 seconds, putting them up in the game 5-3. In Game 6, the offense that struggled for the Islanders earlier in the series was scoring at will. And they earned a win that fans will remember forever.

New York won the series. Now, they have to win another one against Boston.

Ethan Halle

Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.