“The Islanders are like a disease that you can’t get rid of.”
That unflattering assessment of the New Yorkers was uttered by Penguins winger Bob “Battleship” Kelly during the infamous 1975 Quarter-Finals round series between the clubs.
Truer words were never spoken.
Still, I confess to being happy when we drew the Islanders as our first-round opponent. After all, we had our way with them during the regular season. In my humble opinion, we had Semyon Varlamov in our hip pocket. And I thought our speed and scoring depth would be telling.