The New York Islanders are once again among the final four teams in the 2021 NHL Playoffs. They defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the opening round in six games and shocked the Boston Bruins with a six-game upset in the Second Round. With their success, the Islanders advanced to play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Third Round of the playoffs. While the series has been a dead heat with both teams splitting games on Long Island and in Tampa, the Islanders have to dig deep. Not only will they want to accept the Prince of Wales Trophy, but it will be an exorcism of several demons prior to this season.

The Islanders and the Lightning each met up in the playoffs three times prior to this matchup, and the Bolts have left the Islanders with several crushing defeats. Obviously, there’s the prior history from 2020, but it extends far beyond that. Their playoff history began in 2004 when the two teams met in the First Round. The Lightning won the first game by a 3-0 shutout, even with being outshot 30-18, but the Islanders countered with a 3-0 shutout of their own in Game 2.

With the Islanders seemingly having a lot of momentum with a split and dominating performance, but Tampa ran the Islanders out of their own building. Consecutive 3-0 shutouts by Nikolai Khabibulin got the Lightning two wins on the road, setting the stage for a series-clinching Game 5 in Tampa. Even with the Islanders hanging around in the game, tying it at two before overtime, Martin St. Louis put the Islanders away in the extra session, eliminating New York in five games en route to their first Stanley Cup victory.

The next matchup came over a decade later in 2016, this time in the Second Round of that year’s playoffs. Fresh off of winning their first playoff series in 23 years, the Islanders seemingly were running the Lightning out of Amalie Arena. After the Lightning scored the first goal of the game, New York scored four in a row, two of them belonging to Shane Prince, to have a 4-1 lead after 40 minutes; however, heading into the final minutes, the Lightning made it a game again with two goals in the third. Despite all the pressure against them, the Islanders finished the job by a 5-3 final in the opener. However, the Lightning carried the momentum into Game 2 and dominated, going up 3-1 after 40 minutes of play. Ben Bishop’s day was easy as he only needed to make 19 saves in a 4-1 Tampa victory.

The series then shifted back to the Barclays Center, where Game 3 was a thriller. The two teams traded goals all night long, with the game being tied at two after 40 minutes. However, despite taking a one-goal lead twice in the third, Tampa evened the game on both occasions, including a Nikita Kucherov goal in the final minute of regulation. Once overtime began, Tampa finished the comeback win with a Brian Boyle overtime tally to finish a 5-4 win. Game 4 was also a dead heat, but a much more structured game. Kyle Okposo gave the Islanders the lead in the first, but they once again couldn’t hold it as Kucherov evened it in the third, setting the stage for heroics by Jason Garrison to give the Lightning a stranglehold on the series. Add a relentless 4-0 win in Game 5 at Amalie Arena, and the Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference Final.

Finally, there are the most recent exploits in the 2020 Eastern Conference Final. For most, the wound is still raw with several painful moments, from Kucherov’s last-second goal in Game 2 to Anthony Cirelli’s goal to eliminate the Islanders in Game 6. However, the series was still very close, as, outside a Game 1 rout by the Lightning, most of the games played from there were played in tie scores. Even if the Islanders couldn’t quite finish the job in two additional games, there is no shame in how they handled the Lightning throughout the series.

However, the time for the moral victories is over, and the Islanders will play a best-of-three to determine who will go to the Final. Even if the Lightning got the better of them last season, the Islanders remember all too well what happened. The pain of losing haunted them all offseason, and that has driven them to this crucial rematch. With Game 5 on the horizon, the question now becomes will the Islanders pull through and avenge last year’s defeat, or will the Lightning boogeyman come back to haunt them in the playoffs once again?

Matthew Page

I am a first year student at Hofstra University and an avid Islanders fan. I have been writing for Drive4Five since March 2020. My family has been season ticket holders for the team since 2016, and hockey is my favorite sport. As I expand my knowledge in the field of Journalism, I am writing to express my love for the Islanders and the NHL.