UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- When defenseman Travis Hamonic sustained an undisclosed injury in the second-to-last game of the regular season, the rest of the New York Islanders blue line knew it would have to step it up a notch in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Brian Strait, who was shuffled in and out of the lineup during the season, has arguably been one of the Islanders best defensemen through the first three games of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Washington Capitals, which continues Tuesday with Game 4 at Nassau Coliseum (7:30 p.