Of course the Islanders were going to downplay the difference between playing their home games at the Coliseum and at Barclays Center, as the venue has switched for their second-round playoff series against the Hurricanes that starts with Game 1 in Brooklyn on Friday night.
But the difference is the whole team went into the city after Thursday’s practice on Long Island — where they all live — and were set to stay at a hotel for the duration until they returned after Game 2 on Sunday afternoon. That includes a morning skate in Brooklyn on Friday (they skated on Long Island all season), a practice there on Saturday afternoon, and then staying over Saturday night, with downtime spent together in the city.
It’s not unlike what team president Lou Lamoriello did with some of his Devils’ teams, and it’s not unlike the way the Islanders dealt with Barclays Center at times since they moved there full-time in 2015-16, having just started to split games between Brooklyn and the refurbished Coliseum this season.
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But it’s still very unlike the first round at the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike, when the commute from home to rink for most players was less than a half hour.
“It’s a little bit different in the regular season; [then going to Brooklyn] is a little bit much. But in the playoffs, you don’t take anything back,” captain Anders Lee said. “We’ll be there as a team, we’ll be in the city, near the rink. It’s home ice. You might say it’s a little bit like we’re on the road, but we’re in our hometown. So it’s all the same.”
The Coliseum had been rollicking for Games 1 and 2 of the first-round sweep of the Penguins, but the club knew this was coming. In February, the NHL made the prudent financial decision to switch venues for the second round — and going forward, if need be. Now the Islanders have to go back to a rink that is far less intimidating for opponents and where they haven’t played a home game since Feb. 16.
Yet the club did get Brooklyn buzzing with two rounds of the postseason in 2016, so the players are hoping to recreate that atmosphere. And coach Barry Trotz didn’t expect any change to their game-day preparation.
“No, zero,” Trotz said. “Zero point zero, actually.”
Goalie Robin Lehner did not start in any of the four games against the Hurricanes this season, with Thomas Greiss going 3-1-0 against them with a 1.76 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage. It’s assumed Lehner will start Game 1 after playing all four games against the Penguins, and Trotz said there was “no concern” that Lehner hasn’t seen Carolina.
As for avoiding the Capitals, whom he coached to a Stanley Cup victory just a year ago, Trotz wasn’t too disappointed.
“I was ready for it,” he said. “But at the same time, it’s a good thing not to have to keep answering the same question.”