After all that waiting, all the endless questions each day about the long layoff, and all the rust that is sure to have developed on the Islanders' game over the week-plus that they had off in between playoff series, the Islanders at least now can look back and tell you why it was preferable they swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the playoffs and had so much time off.
“If we didn’t have those 10 days off, we’d be probably missing two or three players for the last of that [first round] series, so it’s a positive,’’ Islanders coach Barry Trotz said Thursday.