It wasn’t the ending the New York Islanders or their fans deserved, but that can’t take away from how positive the 2018-19 season was.
As the pain of a sweep subsides for the Islanders, reflection on a historic campaign begins to settle in.
Before the final rosters were even decided, nearly everyone had written off the Islanders as basement dwellers.
Coming off of the most porous defensive campaign in the last decade, the hockey community wrote them off as a lottery team especially after 2018’s free agency frenzy.
By the time the regular season concluded, the Islanders not only clinched a playoff spot, but also secured home ice for the first time in 31 years.