No big deal, really.
The bottom line is no different than last year at this time heading into Game 7 against the Washington Capitals: The Islanders haven't won a playoff series since 1993, something that weighs more on the fans who've followed them through the fallow years than the players who in some cases weren't even born yet during Al Arbour's last storybook run.
Different now, however, is that the Isles have two chances to close out a series (though they'd prefer not to tempt fate by needing that second one). Rather than a sense of building something, there is a sense of last hurrah together for some of the team's long-serving players who will be free agents or otherwise depart this summer.