OTTAWA, Ontario — Let’s go back to the last playoff series the Islanders played and the last moment when it looked as if they might push Carolina a bit, up 3-0 halfway through Game 2 in Raleigh two springs ago.
The Islanders proceeded to do everything possible to blow that game, sitting back and absorbing pressure as the Hurricanes bore down on them. They lost, 5-3, giving up the tying and go-ahead goals, plus an empty-netter, in the final three minutes of regulation.
Or how about the year before that, also against Carolina, when the Isles took a 1-0 lead into the third period of Game 6 at UBS, needing a win to keep the season alive, only to fall into the same trap. Sebastian Aho tied it halfway through the third; Paul Stastny ended the season in overtime.
Why bring this up now, 68 games into a different season with an entirely different Islanders team than those two?
