Montreal Canadiens did Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders a favour
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens are out, but their impact will go on, especially for Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders, who will face the Philadelphia Flyers.
No two teams impressed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs more than the Vancouver Canucks and the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, for the Habs, they weren’t able to get the job done and make it to the second round, but they did do a lot better than most predicted. Sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins is one thing, and taking the Philadelphia Flyers to six games is another; however, there’s one another crucial thing the Canadiens did, and it’s going to be important for Barry Trotz and the New York Islanders.
The Flyers and Islanders had a lot in common this regular season. Both established themselves as structured-defensive squads who would rather win 2-1 or 1-0 than open the flood gates and get into a scoring race. The coaching of Trotz and Alain Vigneault was a big part of that, and yes, we have to give some kudos to Michel Therrien as well.
Surprisingly, only one of the two teams stuck to that identity the entire way through. Philadelphia went undefeated in the Round Robin, scoring a total of 11 goals and not allowing any more than 1. They were getting offensive contributions, but not from those that you’d expect. At the time, it was Scott Laughton and Nicolas Aube-Kubel leading the way while Carter Hart had .971 and .958 save percentage performances.
It didn’t matter as much that Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek and Travis Konecny wasn’t getting on the board. The Flyers’ depth was producing, and their structure helped Hart, and Brian Elliott shut the door.
This identity made Philadelphia a scary team heading into the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So much, so that many believed the Montreal Canadiens didn’t stand a chance.