Other than the Canucks, is it fair to say that the Islanders and Flyers — if you went back to mid-winter 2019-20 — are the two teams who are the biggest surprises to be among the final eight competing for the Stanley Cup right now?
That’s the fun of the second (in a normal year) round. Any team that wasn’t a home-ice seed in the opening round is in “We believe we think we can DO this!” mode, which Newsday is happy to exploit. (I realize the Flyers were technically a home-ice seed, but still.