Cardiac Cane
Fansided

Carolina Hurricanes put their perfect record on the line verses Islanders

By Omar Abdelgawad

RALEIGH, NC - MAY 03: Nino Niederreiter #21 of the Carolina Hurricanes battles for a puck near the red line with Scott Mayfield #24 of the New York Islanders in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 3, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - MAY 03: Nino Niederreiter #21 of the Carolina Hurricanes battles for a puck near the red line with Scott Mayfield #24 of the New York Islanders in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 3, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – MAY 03: Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders prepares for a faceoff against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 3, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – MAY 03: Thomas Greiss of the New York Islanders prepares for a faceoff against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on May 3, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

1. It Doesn’t Matter Who Is in Net for Islanders

Last season the Carolina Hurricanes only saw a single Islanders goaltender during the regular season; Thomas Greiss. For some reason he managed to keep the Carolina Hurricanes at bay for the most of the season. Their final game against Carolina however saw the Hurricanes finally get past Greiss and earn themselves a win on route to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.

The playoffs saw Vezina Trophy runner up and winner of both the Jennings and Masterdon trophies Robin Lehner come into play and fall flat on his face against the Hurricanes. Thomas Greiss was brought in to salvage the series but even he couldn’t bring back his prowess against the Hurricanes from the regular season.

Lehner has since moved on to Chicago and the Islanders have brought in the Russian, Semyon Varlamov to take the starting position. Starting goalies for tonight have yet to be named, but with both teams also playing tomorrow do not be surprised to see Greiss in net if the Islanders decide to save Varlamov for the Panthers tomorrow.

To the Carolina Hurricanes it shouldn’t matter. Even if it is Greiss, who was the first off the ice for the Islanders practice this morning meaning he will most likely get the nod, they should reach back to the playoffs and know that he can and will be beaten. He no longer has the Carolina Hurricanes’ number. He no longer has any real control in Carolina.

Now granted, of the entire Islanders roster, I love Thomas Greiss the most. Little known fact, he spends parts of his summer every year down at Fort Bragg, NC doing a summer camp for youth in the area and helping spread the love of hockey in Carolina. That said, neither him nor Varlamov should matter to this team. They threw Sergei Bobrovsky out in Florida. This is no different.

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