The New York Islanders have been in this position before. Just a few weeks ago in fact.
With a chance to sweep the Florida Panthers out of the Qualifying Round, the Islanders got sloppy in Game 3 and missed their opportunity. The following game they returned to form to close out the series.
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The Islanders will have to dig down and find that resiliency once more following Tuesday’s 3-2 Game 4 loss to the Washington Capitals.
It was the undisciplined play that led to the Panthers getting five power-play opportunities last round with the Islanders having a chance to sweep. This time around, it was a bit of everything after the Islanders let a 2-0 first lead disappear in the opening minutes of the second period.
The Islanders took four penalties in the middle frame, which allowed the Capitals to tie the game in the first 5:29. Then Washington pushed the Islanders off their game and ground them down to the point of looking tired in the third period.
“I thought it came too easy in the first for us,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said after the game. “Therefore we didn’t have enough skin in the game if you will. I’m not going to take anything away from the way they played. They played very, very well. They played a pretty complete game, but we didn’t respond enough. We just have to respond next game.”
This round the Islanders have already had to show they can come back from a bad performance. The New York Islanders rallied from a 2-0 deficit in Game 1, where they were outplayed for the better part of the first two periods. They responded with a late goal in the second period and then a strong three-goal effort in the.third to win the game.
New York showed a similar resolve against Florida with their best game of the series in Game 4 to close out the Panthers.
The Islanders need to dig down and channel that once again for Game 5 against the Capitals. Losing with a chance to close out a series is a tough pill to swallow. Doing so when you dominated your opponent right out of the gate, makes that even tougher to take.
And the last thing the Islanders want to do is give the Capitals any life in this series.
Trotz wasn’t wrong when he said that the opening period came too easy for the Islanders. The Capitals looked like a dejected team ready to pack their bags and head home to Washington D.C. At one point the Islanders had been out attempting the high and mighty Capitals 16-1 in the first.
Then the beast got poked and the momentum that the Islanders so openly talked about not wanting to give the Caps was indeed given to them. Not exactly something that is part of the Islanders gameplan.
“You just have to regroup, reset,” Anders Lee said. “It’s like anything. It’s a long season. Obviously this is a different situation, but you have to move on. Learn from it and go ahead forward because you can’t be dwelling on the past. Dwelling on the game and you just have to look forward to the next time you’re out there.
“Just reset, regroup, get our legs back, rest up in the next day and a half here and be ready to roll.”
The Islanders have shown they can do that. They’ve done it now twice during the postseason, and if you wanted to, you could look back to even before then during the regular season at the beginning of the year.
During their 10-game winning streak and 17-game point streak, the Islanders found plenty of ways to keep both streaks chugging along.
Plenty has been said about the New York Islanders belief and calmness in situations like this. It’s certainly permeated around the rest of the team since Trotz has arrived.
“We have to more determined than them. More determined than their desperation. I know this team is going to come back stronger,” Nick Leddy said.
They’ll have to be if they want to close the series in Game 5 on Thursday.
