Islanders: Thomas Greiss Shined In Game 4

The New York Islanders got stellar goalie play out of Thomas Greiss who had a .947 save percentage stopping 36 of 38.

One of the luxuries that Barry Trotz has is being able to run both goalies out with confidence. Semyon Varlamov has been dominant in the playoffs for the Islanders this year, with a .935 save percentage and a 1.69 goals against average.

With the Isles and Flyers playing on back to back nights, both teams decided to go with the backup netminders. To be completely transparent, I was surprised when Trotz had Greiss between the pipes tonight.

Not that Greiss couldn’t handle it, Semyon Varlamov has been on an absolute tear I figured they would roll with the hot hand.

Instead, they went to Greiss who had a .913 save percentage and a 2.74 goals against average in the regular season. He played in one playoff game, Game 2 of this series, and stopped 20 of 21 for a .952 save percentage and a 1.26 goals against average.

Tonight, Greiss was spectacular.

He stood on his head for the entirety of this game. He faced 38 shots tonight and was able to stop 36 of them for a .947 save percentage.

The first goal, was when Sean Couturier got a beautiful tip on a shot from Justin Braun. There was nothing Greiss could do. The second goal came with just 1:05 left in the third period, when the Flyers pulled their goalie.

Time and time again he stood tall, especially in the final minutes of the second period. The Flyers had 17 shots on goal to the Islanders three and somehow they left the period all tied up at one.

Want your voice heard? Join the Eyes On Isles team!

Write for us!

With Game 5 on Tuesday, Barry Trotz has a decision on his hands. Does he go back to Varly or does he roll with Greiss again? My guess would be Varly but one thing was proved for sure tonight, the Islanders have two capable goalies.