In their last series with the Capitals, history repeated itself for the Islanders.

On Sunday, Aug. 16, the Islanders faced off against the Washington Capitals at noon. Five years ago, the Islanders also played the Capitals in the postseason. Like their matchup five years ago, the two teams met on a Sunday afternoon with the Islanders having the final change. Five years ago, however, the stakes were different.

The Islanders were a young inexperienced team, and no one had many expectations for the postseason team. Like this season, the group started off 2014-15 as one of the best teams in the NHL, cooled off, eventually made the playoffs, but were massively written off and not seen as a legitimate threat. The Washington Capitals, on the other hand, were heavily favored. They had a solid core, with a Russian superstar who was itching for his first-ever Stanley Cup. The Islanders were the underdog, and the Capitals were the favorite.

Now, the circumstances are different. The Washington Capitals had finally won a cup in 2018. Back in 2015, the Islanders still had not won a Stanley Cup Playoff series since 1993. The Islanders now have a tremendous structure to their game, making them challenging opponents. And ironically, the Washington Capitals coach during the 2015 series, Barry Trotz, is now the head coach of the New York Islanders.

A lot has changed. Despite all these changes, both Game 3s were exceptionally quite similar.

In 2015 the Islanders opened the scoring in Game 3 off a deflection from Kyle Okposo. Similarly, in the current series in 2020, the Islanders opened Game 3, scoring against the Capitals with a deflection from Anders Lee.

In 2015, the Capitals proceeded to tie the game off a beautiful bardown snipe from star-player Nicklas Bäckström that was perfectly placed into the net. In their current series, the Capitals tied the game up, thanks to a meticulous snipe as well from Evgeny Kuznetsov.

In quite indistinguishable fashion, both games needed extra time to decide the contest. Both games were decided relatively quickly in overtime. In 2015, it only took the Islanders 15 seconds to find the back of the net. John Tavares, the face of the franchise and fan favorite, was able to get the rebound off a shot from the point and put the puck past goaltender Brayden Holtby.

Five years later, it would only take the Islanders 4:28 to find the back of the net. In almost identical fashion to 2015, the new Islanders face of the franchise and fan-favorite, Mathew Barzal, was able to beat goaltender Brayden Holtby off a backhand deke. Five years later and the New York Islanders were able to repeat history, defeating the Capitals once again.

Ethan Halle

Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.