Islanders: Three reasons Game 1 win was more important than you think

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The New York Islanders celebrate their 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

The New York Islanders took Game 1 with a 4-3 OT win, here are three reasons the win is more important than you think.

With a 4-3 OT win the New York Islanders start their playoff quest in the best possible way. With a series lead. There’s still a lot to do yet, this best-of-seven series is far from over but the Isles start things off in a great position.

The win is an important one for the Islanders in the series. Teams who start 1-0 typically win the series. According to Hockey-Reference, any team that goes up 1-0 wins the series 68.8% of the time.

So by that fact alone, this is a big and massively important win for the New York Islanders. But it goes beyond that for the Isles. There are a few more reasons that this win was more important than you think.

When you get down to the nitty-gritty of it all, this win means a lot. Here are three reasons this Game 1 win is more important than just the Isles being up 1-0 over the Penguins.