Nine months after the Tampa Bay Lightning eliminated the New York Islanders to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals of the 2020 NHL Playoffs, the Islanders have a shot at revenge.

Barry Trotz and the Islanders’ coaching staff know the Eastern Conference well. They know where they stack up among the other teams. They understand that Pittsburgh, Boston and Washington have aging cores. The Eastern Conference runs through Tampa, and a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals depends on beating the Lightning.

The Islanders weren’t an easy out last year. In a series where the Islanders fought extremely hard, they just fell short. The Islanders were the only team in the Eastern Conference to push the Lightning to six games during the 2020 NHL playoffs. Even after dropping Game 1 to the Lightning 8-2, the Islanders were only an overtime goal away from sending the series to Game 7.

The New York Islanders will face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second straight season. It’s only the second time in the last 20 years this phenomenon has taken place. In the 2013 and 2014 Western Conference Finals, the Chicago Blackhawks faced off against the Los Angeles Kings. The Blackhawks would win the Stanley Cup in 2013, and the Kings would win the Stanley Cup in 2014.

Tampa is better offensively than the Islanders. They are also better defensively, and they have better goaltending. They have a solid core with the right set of role players sprinkled throughout the roster, creating an extremely deep team to go up against. On paper, this series favors the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

But that has been true in every Islanders playoff series since 2018. They’re almost always the worse team on paper, but they find a way to win. On top of that, their Conference Finals loss is still fresh in their minds from last season. They know what to expect from the Lightning.

This will be the first time the teams see each other since Game 6 last September. This adds even more intensity to this series and more fuel to the fire inside every player excited for a shot at retribution.

Moreover, the entire Islanders organization knows that if any team in the East can beat Tampa, it’s them. Barry Trotz also knows how to beat them. He did it in 2018 en route to the Stanley Cup Finals with the Washington Capitals.

No other team in the NHL is capable of shutting down the Lightning. The Islanders are great at clogging the middle of the ice and playing defense. That strategy has kept them in low-scoring games with Tampa before and has given them opportunities to win. The Islanders will play a frustrating game against the Lightning. When you open up the ice against the Lightning, you are at the mercy of their offense. It’s only a matter of time before they make you pay. They have way too much firepower.

The Islanders have the storyline, the tools, the motivation, and a packed Nassau Coliseum to help them beat the Tampa Bay Lightning. Now it is in their hands.

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.