The Islanders missed a chance to seize control of the series on Thursday night, dropping an overtime loss to the Bruins to fall behind 2-1 in the best of seven.
Although it’s not a position New York prefers, it’s not an unfamiliar one, which head coach Barry Trotz will lean on as the Islanders prepare for a crucial game four at Nassau Coliseum on Saturday night.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Trotz said after Friday’s practice. “It’s not the end of the world. It’s one game. We focus on tomorrow. If we get the job done tomorrow, it’s a best of three, and that’s what it was against Pittsburgh.”
Indeed, the Islanders are just over a week removed from erasing a 2-1 deficit against the Penguins, with a number of striking similarities from that first round win to this Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup. New York stole a road game in overtime in game one against the Penguins, and won in overtime in Boston in game two. The Islanders dropped their first home game of the series to fall behind 2-1 against Pittsburgh, which happened again on Wednesday night. The team responded with three straight wins over the Penguins, and are hoping for a repeat starting on Saturday.
“We knew that Pitt was going to be a hard out, just how Boston is,” Trotz said. “You have to just keep continually buying in to what you’re doing, staying with the process and letting your game slowly take over.”
Trotz’s experience with coaching from behind stretches past his Islanders days. During his 2018 Stanley Cup run with the Capitals, Washington trailed in every series, but rebounded to win them all. So while an overtime loss at home to fall behind in the series is admittedly deflating, it is far from a death sentence for New York’s hopes of reaching a second straight conference final.
“I just think you let it go,” Trotz said. “Whatever happened last night, obviously we would have loved to have won in overtime, this place would have blown the roof off, but we didn’t. It’s no different than us going to Boston and getting the overtime winner in Boston. You just put it in the rearview mirror and focus on tomorrow.”
Trotz and the Islanders never expecting things to be easy against a Bruins team that finished the year with 73 points, just ahead of New York, and while the road to a series win just got tougher, it certainly didn’t become impossible.
“This is a hell of a series,” Trotz said. “If I wasn’t coaching, I’d be glued to the TV every night. It’s a hell of a series right now. It’s physical, determined series by both teams. I’m excited for a Saturday night crowd at the Coliseum, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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