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Going to preface this thread by saying that I expect Semyon Varlamov to get all of the starts in this series, but here I am going to make an argument that Thomas Greiss should start this afternoon& #39;s Game 2.
Hear me out.
Hear me out.
This series contains an anomaly of a double back-to-back, which essentially compounds the workload on everyone. There is absolutely no way that Varlamov is not going to start Game 6 and Game 7 (if necessary). He should because he earned it.
That means it& #39;s possible the Isles will play 7 games in 10 days, which is pretty crazy to think about.
But let& #39;s talk about the *advantage* the Isles have right now. They won Game 1, and winning 1 of the next 2 B2B games gives them a solid 2-1 lead heading into the weekend.
But let& #39;s talk about the *advantage* the Isles have right now. They won Game 1, and winning 1 of the next 2 B2B games gives them a solid 2-1 lead heading into the weekend.
Because Philadelphia is losing, they *have* to start Carter Hart today... and likely tomorrow (if not, Elliott is going). Either way, it gives the Islanders a distinct goaltending advantage on Thursday if they start a rested Varlamov.
The worst case scenario if you start Greiss? He stinks and it& #39;s a 1-1 series. But at least you have your (rested) starter ready to go against a tired goalie and tired teams w/ last change. Sounds pretty nice.
If Greiss can pull out a W, all the better... of course.
If Greiss can pull out a W, all the better... of course.
Playing Greiss is a risk. He hasn& #39;t played a game in a month. He could be terrible. But it doesn& #39;t matter if the Isles lose 6-1... it still only counts as one victory for Philly. And again, your rested starter is ready to go the next day.
Yes, you can potentially give him a start tomorrow with a 2-0 lead, but it& #39;s hard to set expectations with the goalies properly (conditional ifs with a short lead time seems... ehhhh for prep). So I think this really only works if you start him today esp. given the off-time.
