In the days of delight after the New York Islanders finished off the Washington Capitals with a pleasing, grind-the-insult-into-the-carpet 4-0 win in Game 5, we’ve heard and talked a lot about the keys to the win.
Now, as they open their series with the Flyers tonight, the question is: How many of those things can continue?
Because the multi-round playoffs are a story of which advancing teams can keep doing what they’re doing, vs. the opponents who stop them in their tracks. At the end of this next round, the losing team will be looking back and chafing at how the things “that got us there” were not on display.