Players who have never experiences a game seven often benefit from leaning on teammates who have been there before.
For the Islanders, they can lean on their head coach who has helped turn the franchise into a consistent contender.
Barry Trotz has faced an almost identical situation as the Islanders will face Friday night. Back in 2018, his final season behind the bench with the Capitals, Washington had fought off elimination at home in game six against the Lightning to force a decisive game seven on the road, which the Capitals also won to finally reach a Stanley Cup Final. Now, Trotz's Islanders are in Tampa for a seventh game after taking game six at home, and Trotz will encourage his players to embrace the stakes, the intensity and all that comes with a winner-take-all game seven.
"I think just putting it in perspective," Trotz said of his approach with his team in preparing them for game seven. "It's a very important game, obviously game seven is always do-or-die, so people handle it differently. Some people feel the weight of a game seven. Some people embrace it. What I try to do is get the message off that you want to embrace it. You want to embrace these moments."
When Trotz faced the Lightning in 2018, Tampa boasted the highest scoring offense in the league, but the Capitals shut them out in games six and seven to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. It was a redemption tour for a Capitals team that had consistently fallen short despite dominant regular seasons in previous years, and through that experience, Trotz has come to appreciate the road toward the ultimate goal. He hopes to pass that appreciation on to his players as they prepare for the franchise's biggest game since 1984.
"I talk about the journey probably more than the outcome," Trotz said. "The journey is very important for players. It's the journey of the regular season, the journey of the playoffs, the journey within the game. You have to stay in the moment. To me, it's life. You're gong to have challenges in life as you are in a game seven…it allows you to have success if you can stay in the moment."
Trotz stressed that this particular group hasn't felt that thrill of a game seven win yet, but he has experienced it himself, and can only hope that come Friday night, he will get to once again with a group that is relatively thin in game seven experience.
"It's a relief, it's every emotion a human person can have, it comes out when you get to the top of the mountain," Trotz said of winning a seventh game. "It applies to sport, in our game, but it applies to someone who climbs to the top of Mount Everest. It starts as a dream and becomes a reality, and that's a big moment for a lot of people, and it was for me."
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