Slashed in the playoff series against Carolina
New York. There will be more folk partying on Long Island—and wild hockey fans on the densely populated strip of land east of New York can thank Pierre Engvall for that.
The 26-year-old from Småland was responsible for both goals and assists when the Islanders saved the ball for game one against Carolina in a narrow 3-2 win in Raleigh last night.
– We were determined and did everything we could tonight, he says.
They played knife to the throat in the PNC arena last night, New York Islanders.
After all, the Carolina Hurricanes had a 3-1 advantage and planned to kill the series and send the guests from the North on summer vacation.
With these plans Bo Horvat & co put a firm end to.
They played their best game in the entire eighth game, closing their territory so effectively that the home team – who were completely devoid of natural scorers – hardly got any chances at all. At the same time, they cut themselves mercilessly when given chances and in the end won fairly with a score of 3-2.
We knew we had to win and did everything you have to do in times like this. We were determined, says Pierre Engvall when he met the media after the final whistle.
The Islanders traded him from Toronto in early March, and that deal really paid off in this fifth round. The 26-year-old from Ljungby had his best game in the playoffs this year, scoring an important 1-0 goal midway through the first period – making his first NHL career playoff game a reality – and then playing up to Brock Nelson’s all-important 2-cone 0 at the beginning of the second.
– I don’t know how many shots I fired earlier in this series, so it felt very satisfying to get that disc, he continues.
– The chain I formed with Nelson and Kyle Palmieri worked hard and contributed in other ways to the previous games, but it didn’t produce much. However, tonight we’ve advanced in that regard as well.
So now there will be a new match at the UBS Arena on Friday night – Saturday night, Swedish time – which, of course, makes Pierre and his friends happy.
– Yes, it’s very interesting. But we haven’t achieved anything yet. We have to focus hard on that match,” says the Swede at Al Jazira.
