The Philadelphia Flyers will play in the Eastern Conference second-round series for the first time since 2012 when they host the New York Islanders on Monday night.
The top-seeded Flyers outlasted the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens in six games to set up a series against the sixth-seeded Islanders. New York ousted the third-seeded Washington Capitals in five games and will face the Flyers in the postseason for the first time since 1987.
Philadelphia received a stellar effort across the board from its young talent, highlighted by second-year goaltender Carter Hart and defensemen Ivan Provorov and Phil Myers among others.
"The young players are learning and growing," Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. "They came up big for us at the right time."
The Flyers will receive a boost with the return of defenseman Matt Niskanen, who was suspended for Game 6 against the Canadiens for cross-checking Brendan Gallagher. Niskanen is the only member of the Flyers to have won a Stanley Cup.
The Flyers had a difficult time scoring against Montreal and will face another daunting challenge as the Islanders have given up the second-fewest shots of any team in the playoffs.
"When they have opportunities, they try to score," Provorov said of the Islanders. "I think we've just got to play our game. Keep playing fast. Control the puck and not give them any chances to score."
The Flyers dropped all three games to the Islanders in the regular season, but they've played just once since the middle of November.
"It speaks volumes to our team that we didn't play up to our capability and we still got four wins," Kevin Hayes said of eliminating the Canadiens. "Every opponent brings a different challenge. ... We just need to refocus and realize that we have a great team and do have a live shot to win this thing."
The Islanders looked sharp and dominated the Capitals in the first round.
Despite plenty of regular-season success against the Flyers, they're far from overconfident.
"It has no bearing on where we are right now," said Islanders head coach Barry Trotz. "It seems like it's years ago since we played them. What you're doing now is what really matters and what you did before has zero bearing on the effect of these games."
New York played a physical style in dispatching the Capitals. The Canadiens tried a similar tactic against the Flyers.
"The Flyers are obviously a team that's playing pretty well and won the No. 1 spot in the playoff round," Islanders left wing Anders Lee said. "It's another tough match for us."
Anthony Beauvillier scored two goals in the clinching game against the Capitals. He also notched two goals in a Game 4 win over the Florida Panthers in the qualifying round.
Only Mike Bossy and Bobby Nystrom had scored a pair of goals in a possible series-clinching victory in the same postseason before Beauvillier accomplished the feat.
"It's not really something you focus on," Beauvillier said. "Just try to go out there and play our best, try to help your team win. That's my main focus these past couple weeks and it's been working."
As the playoffs continue, intensity rises, and the games tend to get chippier.
There are only eight teams still alive.
"I think every round gets that much tougher and the intensity, the desperation, all those things we talk about all the time, they all increase as you move on," Lee said.
--Field Level Media