Islanders Playoff News: Battered and unrecognizable, but not out

Hark, the emotional swings of the playoffs.

They don’t swing much harder or with much higher stakes than the Islanders’ brutal 8-0 Game 5 loss in Tampa, two nights after Ryan Pulock’s goal-line save to top the Lightning in Game 4.

The first watch party at Nassau Coliseum meant a huge crowd arrived to watch a no-show. Winning both of the next games, which was always going to be difficult if the Isles couldn’t steal another in Tampa, now feels even more daunting considering the degree to which they were punished in Game 5.

But they must regroup, take it step by step: Focus on keeping what could be the Coliseum’s last playoff game from being a loss.

Islanders-Lightning News

About last night, that terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad night:

• Burn the tape. [LHH]
• An embarrassing night where neither goalie could stop the bleeding. [Newsday]
• That Islanders team was unrecognizable. [Sportsnet]
• The Isles clearly didn’t have it, anything, from the opening faceoff. But they are a team that has been able to “park” bad nights and move on. [Post]
• Barzal ejected for a crosscheck. [ESPN]
• Best: A loss is a loss, but man, who were those guys in white? [Newsday]
• Brooks: This was a bad as it gets, and Mathew Barzal put them in an even worse spot with his major crosscheck. [Post]
• Palmieri: A loss is a loss this time of year, whether in double-OT or in blowout. [AM NY]
• Podcast: Gross checks in after that ugly game. [Island Ice @ Newsday]
• Trotz: No room for error now. [ESPN]
• Lazar: Barzal has lost his cool like that before, earning a benching; this time the hope is he hasn’t earned something worse from the league. [Post]
• With a couple of goals, Steven Stamkos put to rest some questions about his play. [Sportsnet]
• Even Denis Potvin couldn’t resist going to the watch party at the Coliseum. [Newsday]
• How the watch party came together. [Post]
• The Isles will need “faith, hope and Ted Lasso” to get past that brutal Game 5. [Athletic]
• Bad bounces also set the tone in Game 5, oh and also they’ve sold out season ticket availability for next season in their new arena. [Post]
• That makes 12,000 general admission season tickets sold for next season. [Newsday]
• Hey, every semifinalist is pretty solid on defense, you know. [Newsday]

Elsewhere

• The attention now turns to the other series, where the Canadiens are “comfortable” that the pressure is on Vegas heading into a pivotal Game 5.
• With Game 5 in Vegas, Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry will finally get to see his father again. [NHL]
• Is it just me, well, everyone, or is NHL officiating this playoff year a particular extreme of farce? [Sportsnet]
• Sad news: Wild assistant GM Tom Kurvers has died of lung cancer. In a 10-year NHL playing career, he played three seasons with the Islanders, including the 1993 conference finals run [NHL]
• Old wily veteran Corey Perry is in the middle of everything for the Habs’ playoff run. [Athletic]
• Old friend Blake Comeau re-signs with the Stars. [NHL]
• Is it time for the Maple Leafs to re-examine their “core four” experiment? (To be fair, they embarked on it in a pre-pandemic world where it was assumed the cap would continue to rise.) [Athletic]