There’s a lot on the line in any playoff series. For the New York Islanders and Florida Panthers, a pair of franchises that haven’t advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs since the 1990s, there’s perhaps a little something extra.
With the puck set to drop on Game 1 Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla., the two teams have additional complications to account for — even beyond the usual pressure of playoff hockey — as a result of this series’ compressed schedule.
Over the next four days, the Panthers and Islanders will play three games with a travel day in between. This series is going to come fast and furious.
“It’s going to be a battle and sometimes with the commitments in the buildings you have to do that,” said Panthers head coach Gerard Gallant on Thursday. “But for me it’s no issue.”
Aside from a Panthers home game, the next commitment on the docket at the BB&T Center is a Demi Lovato concert in late June. It’s the commitments at Barclays Center in Brooklyn – three boxing events in four days between this Saturday and Wednesday night in particular – that are wreaking havoc on the schedule.
This condensed schedule will have an impact on a series that should be closely contested. (As the money line would suggest, oddsmakers believe only the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues series is more evenly matched).
“It’s a tough schedule for sure,” Panthers defenceman Eric Gudbranson said on Thursday. “It’s going to mean a lot of hydration, taking care of yourself, finding rest when you can.”
While the players know they’ll have to be mindful in recovery, most players downplayed the impact the schedule would have on the outcome of the series.
“Back-to-backs is tough in the regular season, but in the playoffs you could go to the next day and play,” said Islanders rearguard Johnny Boychuk, who won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. “You have to, as soon as you’re done, get some food in you, a lot of liquids and electrolytes and have a good sleep.”
The two head coaches echoed that thought on Thursday and insisted at length that the quick turnarounds wouldn’t impact their tactical decisions.
“I’m not thinking about saving minutes for Game 2,” said Islanders head coach Jack Capuano. “I know Travis (Hamonic) hasn’t played in some time but he’s going to be a guy that crunches a lot for minutes along with (Nick) Leddy and a few of our other guys.
“This is what you train all season for. Our guys are in great condition, they’re in great shape. The guys that are going are going to get a lot of minutes.”
Gallant even went so far as to suggest that he’s happy to be getting so many games in so quickly.
“You know what, we had a lot of back-to-backs the last two years and I really liked them to be honest with you,” Gallant said. “Our team has had good success in the back-to-backs, I think we play real good hockey.”
With the evolution of the scientific side of the game — both in terms of human performance and data analysis — NHL teams have paid more attention to workload when making lineup decisions in recent years. The days of the 70-games-per-season workhorse starting goaltender are gone, for example, with back-to-back crease appearances becoming something of a rarity.
How the Panthers handle 37-year-old netminder Roberto Luongo over the next four days could have a massive impact on the outcome of this playoff series. Luongo is one of the major reasons the Panthers are favoured and he’s been open all season long about the stress that playing back-to-back games can cause, considering his age. Though he also believes his experience may give him an edge in recovery.
“The recuperation isn’t as fast as it was,” Luongo told Sportsnet on Thursday. “It’s all the more important to make sure you take the right steps to get there. Back in the day I just showed up the next day and I played. Now there are steps to be taken to make sure your body is recovered. I’ve been around, I know what to do.”
Both organizations indicated that they’ll approach their goaltending situations on a game-by-game basis in the series. That seems sensible when you consider that an already-arduous calendar could become even more trying should games get to overtime.
Considering the edge Luongo provides for Florida, it would be tough for the Panthers to justify turning to their backup for Game 2 or Game 3, even though Al Montoya has fared very well all season. It would probably be even tougher for the Islanders, though.
With New York’s regular starter Jaroslav Halak sidelined by injury, Thomas Greiss will make his first career playoff start on Thursday night. His backup, Jean-Francois Berube, has only seven games of NHL experience on his resume.
Of course, goaltending isn’t the only position hit hard by abbreviated recovery times. The Panthers roll three defence pairings more equitably than the Islanders do, which could give them something of an edge by the second and third games.
On the other hand, the Islanders’ massively physical fourth line of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck could help neuter that advantage somewhat, especially if they’re as effective as they usually are at throwing the body on the forecheck.
“You know when they’re on the ice,” said Gudbranson.
As any player or coach can tell you, an extended playoff series often turns into a battle of attrition. With a compressed schedule to deal with, that attrition could start early for the Panthers and Islanders.