While at Newsday's Melville headquarters on Monday for a "Newsday Live" event, Islanders stars Clark Gillies and Butch Goring talked about the team's chances as they are set to begin the playoffs at NYCB Live's Nassau Coliseum against the Penguins on Wednesday and compared the way team president Lou Lamoriello is running the team with their experiences with coach Al Arbour. (Credit: Newsday / Yeong-Ung Yang)
The Islanders surpassed everybody’s expectations but their own to secure home-ice advantage in a playoff series for the first time since 1988.
The majority opinion when it comes to playoff predictions again has the Islanders, who finished second in the Metropolitan Division, as underdogs to the third-place Penguins, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.