Five Takeaways From the Isles Series Win Over the Capitals

Second round. Second year in a row.

The New York Islanders advanced to the second round of the playoffs after beating the Washington Capitals in five games. It was a little bit of revenge for the Islanders on the 2015 team, and more affirmation that the Isles style of play can hang with the best of them, as the Isles defensive detail limited the high-flying Caps to eight goals in five games.

Here are five takeaways from a decisive and impressive win over the Capitals:

1. ISLES DOMINATE 5-ON-5:

"We'll play five-on-five with anyone in the league."

That was Barry Trotz after Game 1 - and he wasn't kidding. Just as they were in the Qualifying Round against the Florida Panthers, the Islanders owned the Washington Capitals at five-on-five.

The Isles allowed three goals at five-on-five in the series and only 91 five-on-five shots (18 per game). They outscored Washington 11-3 at five-on-five and took over long stretches with a tenacious forecheck. The minute-and-a-half stretch in the third period of Game 2 was peak-Islander hockey, as they hemmed the Capitals in their own end, rolling lines and grinding the Caps down before eventually scoring. In Game 5, they shut out the Caps, holding the second-highest scoring team in the league during the regular season to 18 shots at five-on-five.

"We did a great job as a team," Adam Pelech said. "It takes everyone. It takes the forwards, it takes the defensemen and great goaltending to limit a team like that's offense. We showed a ton of commitment."

It wasn't just that they won the scoring battles at five-on-five, but they tended to get better as the game went on. The Isles outscored the Capitals 8-1 in the third/OT periods and held Washington without a third period goal until Alex Ovechkin's tally in Game 4. In Game 5, the Isles held the Caps to seven third period shots, including none in the final 12 minutes.

"Our finishes have been really strong,"Trotz said between Games 2 and 3. "You see when we understand how we have to play, especially with leads, or in the third period. Guys were on the puck, forcing turnovers, forcing them to turn back, zone time late in games… We weren't going to give them any free pucks, they were going to have to take it off us and go through us."

Five-on-five play was key, as it took the Isles five games to ignite their special teams. After going 1-for-19 on the power play in Games 1-4, the power play came through with the eventual series clincher in Game 5. The Isles even-strength play did a lot of the heavy lifting to get to that point.

2. BALANCED SCORING:

For the second-straight series, the Islanders offensive depth outgunned a more skilled, but top-heavy opponent.

Ten different goal scorers found the back for the Islanders, who got contributions from up and down the lineup. Compare that to only three Capitals bulging the twine: Alex Ovechkin (4G), Evgeny Kuznetsov (2G) and TJ Oshie (2G), though the eight total goals allowed speaks to the Isles suffocating defense. Seven Capitals registered points in five games.

Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier led the Isles with three goals apiece and Mathew Barzal netted a pair of goals - including an OT winner in Game 3, but all four units got in on the action.

Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck scored in Game 2, Josh Bailey (2G) and Brock Nelson each found the back of the net, while JG Pageau represented the Isles third line. Sixteen of the Islanders 20 skaters in the series found their way onto the scoresheet.

"It's huge for the group," Lee said. "Everyone's been involved in every win and the success we've had each night."

3. VARLAMOV ERASES ISLES ERRORS:

Goalies are like erasers according to Trotz, cleaning up the mistakes of players and coaches.

Not that the Islanders had many mistakes during their series against the Capitals, but whenever they did, Semyon Varlamov was there to bail his team out.

Varlamov's Video: Isles Heading to Second Round, stopping Jakub Vrana on an overtime breakaway, then denied Vrana again as he tried to stuff in his own rebound. The Isles rewarded Varlamov less than 30 seconds later with an OT winner.

"Your goalie is your eraser," Trotz said after Game 3. "Sometimes as a coach or a team, your goaltender can erase all of your mistakes. We made a couple of mistakes there and Varly erased it. Getting the [win] for him is a good process. You want to reward your goalie for bailing you out and you can bail him out with a win. [Without him], you wouldn't get that opportunity."

Varlamov put an exclamation point on his series with a 21-save shutout in Game 5, his first playoff shutout since 2009 and the third of his career. Overall, the 32-year-old has thrived in his first postseason since 2014, with a 7-2 record, a 1.67 GAA, a .934 SV% and a shutout. He's allowed two goals or fewer in each of his seven wins, coming against two of the sixth-highest scoring teams in the regular season.

4. ISLES SHOW RESILIENCE AND FOCUS:

The turning point for the series may have come Video: Isles Heading to Second Round, as the Isles staged a dramatic comeback, rallying from an 0-2 hole late in the second period for a 4-2 win.

To recap, the Isles trailed 2-0 after an undisciplined and un-Islanders 38 minutes, but rattled off four unanswered goals in a 12:58 span to win 4-2. They'd taken one of Washington's best shots and were able to withstand it and also survived a game in which they'd taken seven penalties.

They rebounded again after going down 1-0 less than a minute into Game 2, methodically coming back and Video: Isles Heading to Second Round.

After self-inflicted mistakes and undisciplined played cost the Isles a sweep in Game 4, they responded with a suffocating defensive effort in Game 5, just like they did to close out the Panthers.

"Any time you have a chance to close a team out, you want to get it done," Josh Bailey said after Game 5. "A lot of guys stepped up and did what needed to be done. When we're playing the right way, you can feel it on the bench."

Nick Leddy, who's played for two of the top-four winningest coaches in the game in Trotz and Joel Quenneville, said the Isles feel calm under pressure, a feeling that emanates from Trotz and his staff. When Trotz arrived on Long Island, he preached being comfortable in uncomfortable situations. Given how many one-goal games and rallies the Isles have played in the past two years, they look mighty loose when the game is tight.

5. BAILEY AND LEE PROVIDE OFFENSE AND LEADERSHIP:

Anders Lee had perhaps his best playoff series in his Islanders tenure. Lee set the physical tone in the series opener with a hit on Nick Backstrom - which subsequently knocked the Caps center out of Games 2-4. Lee's not a fighter by trade, but he answered the bell and dropped the gloves twice, wrestling with John Carlson before squaring off with Tom Wilson, Video: Isles Heading to Second Round.

"That's what leaders do. He got us into the game, that's part of it, he answered the bell against Wilson," Scott Mayfield said. "That's what Anders does, he brings a lot of different aspects to the game, whether it's goal scoring, hitting, fighting, he can do it all and he's vocal too. When your captain is doing that, everyone rallies behind it."

Lee hit the scoresheet as well, scoring the tying goal during Game 1's dramatic comeback. The Isles' captain scored goals in each of the first three games of the series, igniting his offense after scoring one goal in his first 17 playoff games.

"It's nice, anytime you can get a couple of bounces and start getting rewarded for your efforts it always feels good," Lee said. "In playoff hockey, there's only one thing that matters and that's coming out on top. There are going to be games where the offensive side isn't quite clicking, but you can play a huge role in shutting down your matchup and your line and when you're out there, taking care of business. Just understand what the game is presenting you sometimes if the offense isn't there, but when it's there, it's obviously huge."

After Video: Isles Heading to Second Round, Josh Bailey continued to raise his game in the First Round vs Washington.

Bailey finished the series with a team-high six points (2G, 4A), including a three-point game in the series clincher on Thursday and his shorthanded goal held up as the winner in Game 1's comeback.

Bailey's quietly shot up the league ranks as the veteran winger's (team-high) eight assists are tied for the second-most in the NHL behind Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon and Carolina's Sebastian Aho who each have nine. He dished an absolute beauty in Game 5, rushing the puck up the ice, looking off two defensemen and finding a streaking Beauvillier. As usual, Bailey was his calm and poised self in the postgame press conference.

"When the game gets quicker and get more important, what you find with Josh - and his intelligence level and his compete - is he's got a quiet compete level that I've learned to appreciate," Trotz said. "When those guys are like that sometimes they aren't appreciated for all of the things they do. With Josh, he is a quiet, very competitive very intelligent hockey player. When the moment is big he seems to be very relaxed and poised."

Bailey's 10 points (2G, 8A) in nine playoff games are a career and team-high and he's getting some well-deserved attention.