Success breeds lineup continuity.
So, it was not a surprise to see the Islanders keep their lineup intact for a fifth straight time in Tuesday night’s Game 4 against the Capitals at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. It’s a longer stretch than they had all regular season. Or in last year’s eight-game playoff run.
Some of it was injury related and some of it was performance based this season. Regardless of the reason, Islanders coach Barry Trotz dressed the same 18 skaters just once over the team’s final 15 games — on Feb. 29 and March 3 — before the regular-season was paused on March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.