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PRODUCTIVE OFFENSES The Penguins and Islanders have both proven adept at putting pucks in the back of the net. Pittsburgh enters the playoffs with by far the NHL’s most productive offense, while the Islanders finished seventh in goals for. Pittsburgh finished the season ranked No. 1 for the second straight year, scoring 162 goals for an average of 3.38 goals per game. They had a league-best (tied) eight players reach double digits in goals: Chris Kunitz (22), James Neal (21), Pascal Dupuis (20), Sidney Crosby (15), Jarome Iginla (14), Jussi Jokinen (13), Brenden Morrow (12) and Brandon Sutter (11). Pittsburgh has an absolutely stacked lineup, and it could be difficult for the Islanders defense — ranked 21st in the league — to weather attacks from some of the world’s most skilled players. That showed in the season series, especially in Pittsburgh’s 6-1 thumping of the Islanders on March 10. But the Islanders have a young, skilled and fast forward lineup led by budding superstar Tavares. Both Tavares and longtime linemate Matt Moulson have developed into a dynamic duo. The two of them combined for 43 goals this season, with Moulson assisting on 20 of 28 Tavares tallies. While the Penguins defense has been stout in the final two months of the regular season, corralling those two could be a tough task. However, when teams have contained New York’s top line of Moulson, Tavares and Brad Boyes, the second line of Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Josh Bailey has proven capable of providing secondary scoring. And from the third line, the league’s fastest player Michael Grabner has chipped in 16 goals — which ranks second on the team. Add in the offensive capabilities of blueliners Mark Streit and Lubomir Visnovsky, and New York has a surprisingly deep lineup that could make up for its defense. continued on page 114
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