Islanders head coach Barry Trotz looks on in the second period of an NHL game against the Capitals at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Islanders have described their last two meetings with the Capitals as "playoff-style games" — which is good, in a certain way, because there’s every possibility they’ll meet the Capitals in the postseason and dress rehearsals this late in the proceedings are always useful.
But it’s certainly bad in the bigger, more important way, in that, you know, they lost both.
Which is why Barry Trotz is going into Tuesday’s season series finale against the Capitals with a new look, and a renewed hope that some switched-up personnel can provide the cohesiveness the Islanders require.