RALEIGH, N.C. — The Islanders only have one option, and that is to believe they can do the extremely unlikely.
So there was no need for them to explain why they were in such an upbeat mood for practice Thursday, or why they had such an optimistic point of view as they take a 3-0 deficit in this best-of-seven, second-round series against the Hurricanes into a must-win Game 4 Friday night.
They were holding onto the belief they could be the fifth team in the history of the NHL to overcome this monumental obstacle. And that’s because so few people believed they would be here in the first place, having secured 103 points during the regular season before their sweep of the Penguins in the first round.