Charles LeClaire – USA TODAY Sports
Late last night, the NHL announced the final standings and matchups for the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Number one seed, Pittsburgh Penguins, will face the number eight seed, New York Islanders. Game one will take place on Wednesday at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh with the face-off set for 7:30 pm (est). This is the first post-season meeting between the two clubs since 1993 when the Islanders put an end to the Penguins chances at a third straight Stanley Cup by beating them in overtime of Game 7. In their regular season series, the two teams played each other a total of five times with the Penguins overpowering the Islanders four games to one.
Despite being eighth in the standings, the Islanders shouldn’t be taken lightly by the Penguins as they’ve had an outstanding second half of the season. In their final 17 games, their record was 11-2-4. This is due in large part to their young superstar forward John Tavares. Tavares helped lead the Islanders to clinching their first playoff spot since 2007.
However, the Penguins have a few advantages over the Islanders. One of the biggest being experience and not only in general, but especially when it comes to playoffs. The Islanders are a young team currently on a hot streak; however, the Penguins have a multitude of players such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Brenden Morrow, Jarome Iginla, Brooks Orpik and Kris Letang among many others who have previously taken part in a number of playoff games and situations.
Regardless, I believe this will be an interesting matchup, but will not likely take on the appearance of a number one seed taking on a number eight seed. Although, I don’t think this series will take more than five games for the Islanders to fall short and the Penguins to advance to the next round.
Stephanie Lewark is an NHL and Pittsburgh Penguins Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her Facebook page, or add her to your Google+ circle.
