Any veil of secrecy about what kind of team the Islanders really are has been lifted. Now, unable to catch anyone by surprise, the tests become even more stern.
No longer can they play a big underdog card (if they ever really could). No longer can they hide from the national spotlight, especially if Barry Trotz faces his old Capitals team — up 2-1 on the Hurricanes heading into Thursday night’s Game 4 — in the second round, having led them to the Stanley Cup just a year ago.
And no longer can the Islanders rely on the cramped crowds at the Coliseum, or that galvanizing factor of playing in the old barn on Hempstead Turnpike.