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Isles rule out Halak for first round series versus Panthers

Jaroslav Halak

Jaroslav Halak

AP

Thomas Greiss is now locked into the biggest moment of his professional career.

On Tuesday, Islanders head coach Jack Capuano ruled out No. 1 netminder Jaroslav Halak for his club’s opening-round playoff series against the Panthers, per the New York Daily News.

That means -- barring a dramatic turn of events -- Greiss, who’s held the starting gig since Halak got hurt in early March, will start a playoff series for the first time since breaking into the NHL eight years ago.

Greiss, 30, is coming off his finest campaign, in which he went 23-11-4 with a .925 save percentage and 2.36 GAA. But it was also the biggest workload of his career -- his 41 appearances nearly doubles his previous high of 25 -- and the first time he’s ever carried a full-fledged starting gig.

Which is why this series against Florida will be pretty compelling.

Related: Five playoff goalie dramas to watch