PITTSBURGH — A victory for the Islanders was a wave goodbye for the summer to the Coliseum.
The Islanders completed the first-round sweep of the Penguins by way of a 3-1 win in Game 4 on Tuesday night, so there will be no more postseason games this year at the Coliseum. As decided by the NHL, the club will play its home games for the second round — and any other rounds necessary — at Barclays Center, where they haven’t played a regular-season game since Feb. 16.
The Coliseum was a rollicking venue for Games 1 and 2 of this series, and likely would have been again if Game 5 had been necessary for Thursday night. But now the Islanders leave for their more modern and sanitized urban home.
“I think no matter where we play, even when [the new arena at] Belmont comes, you’re going to miss a piece of the Coliseum,” veteran Matt Martin said. “There’s just so much history there, it’s such a big part of what the New York Islanders are.”
The Islanders split their time this season between the two venues, and went 12-7-1 in Brooklyn, compared to 12-7-2 at the Coliseum. Since the first move to Barclays in 2015-16, the Islanders are 78-48-18 on Atlantic Avenue.
“It’s been a little bit since we played there, but we’ve always had success there,” Josh Bailey said. “I think having our fans behind us, whether it’s the Coliseum or there, they’re going to find a way to create a great atmosphere.”
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The only other postseason series the franchise has won since 1993 came at Barclays in 2016, when John Tavares beat the Panthers with a goal in double-overtime of Game 6. They then lost to the Lightning in the second round.
“I’ll be honest with you, I enjoyed Barclays Center in the playoffs,” Martin said. “Our fans filled it up and made the noise and made it loud. They’ll be doing that again, I guarantee it.”
This regular season, the Islanders had the worst attendance in the league, averaging 12,442 per game — and that with 97.1 percent capacity at the Coliseum, which holds only 13,971. The split made things complicated, as did the plan that the new arena at Belmont Park could be open for the 2021-22 season, with a hopeful groundbreaking later this summer.
“Regular season is tough,” Martin said. “You have people from Suffolk County — we’re playing Tuesday night in Barclays Center, it’s a tough game to get to.
“But our fans live for the playoffs, we live for the playoffs. They’re going to be there. We need them there. They’ll be loud, I have no doubt about it.”
The capacity at Barclays Center is 15,795, with a number of those seats having obstructed views. But with close to 100 luxury boxes, compared to fewer than 10 at the Coliseum, the financial disparity is huge.
As for on the ice — the surface has drawn plenty of criticism — the Islanders are just happy their fans get to see them move on, no matter where the games are.
“I don’t think it matters where we play, our fans will be there,” Martin said. “They’ll show up and they’ll be loud. And we’re excited for it.”