Game 6 Notebook: Isles Successful Season Ends in East Final

The most successful Islanders season in 27 years met and abrupt and unsatisfying end in Edmonton, AB, as the Isles lost 2-1 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Anthony Cirelli delivered the heartbreaking dagger at 13:18 of the extra frame, putting a shot off the post, along the goal line, off Semyon Varlamov's skate and in. It was a sour result both in terms of a tight game - in which the Islanders grinded their way to a 1-1 tie without their top defenseman - and the season, one that saw the Isles overcome scores of adversity to go as far as they had been since 1993.

"This is one of the most resilient teams I've coached and I've coached for a long time," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "I'm real proud of what we've done and the strides we've made, but we're obviously very disappointed as a group. This group felt two things, that it could represent the East and hopefully play for the Stanley Cup. We fell a little bit short."

It was a hollow feeling after a full season, one that effectively had started a calendar year ago, as the Isles were embarking on the 2019-20 campaign last September.
In the intervening 12 months, they set a franchise record point streak, navigated a four-and-a-half month pause due to a global pandemic and advanced to the conference finals for the first time since 1993. In time, all of that will sink in, but none of that alleviated the immediate sting in the handshake line, as evidenced by Anders Lee's emotional postgame press conference. The closer you get, the harder it hits.
"It's a special group in our room," Lee said. "Till that very last minute, every single one of us believed in each other and what we were doing and the road we were on. Obviously we came up short, but there's a huge sense of pride right now in every single one of those guys and everyone involved."

ISLES BATTLE TILL THE END IN TIGHT-CHECKING GAME 6:

Game 6 unfolded in an eerily similar fashion to Game 5, each a 2-1 result decided in overtime.
Both games saw the Lightning outshoot the Islanders - 48-27 in Game 6, 37-24 in Game 5 - but the Isles found a way to grind away at the Bolts and drag a low-scoring game to overtime. Both games saw an Islander defenseman opening the scoring, Devon Toews on Thursday, only to be matched by Victor Hedman.
ISLES-BOLTS GAME 6
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Toews Crafty Wraparound
Isles-Bolts Shake Hands
Postgame: Trotz
Postgame: Lee & Toews
Postgame: Mayfield & Varlamov
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Listen to Toews' Goal
Even the penalty calls were remarkably similar, as Andy Greene was issued a double-minor for high-sticking with 23 seconds left in the third period, one game after Anthony Beauvillier got the same penalty with 1:23 to play. In both games the Islanders rallied around their penalized teammates, ensuring the results were decided at even strength.
The only difference was the result and even that was up in the air for much of Thursday's affair. Brock Nelson had the game on his stick with a shorthanded breakaway in overtime, but was robbed by Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 26 shots. The Lightning had their chances too, but 46 saves from a superb Varlamov effort kept the Isles afloat, not including a redirect from Ondrej Palat through the crease that also nearly ended the game.
As is the case in many playoff overtimes, it wasn't the prettiest shot that decided the game, but rather a quick shot from the top of the crease, off the post, along the line and off a pad that just finds its way in. Game 1 aside, it was a close series and the Isles lost a pair of games by 2-1 margins that could have easily gone the other way. Perhaps that's why it hurt so much in Game 6.
Trotz said the Isles could see the mountain top, but couldn't get to the peak. He also said the Isles would be back to take another step, just like they'd done after reaching the second round the year before.
"We learned to go the distance and the distance is hard," Trotz said. "The growth for our group has been really good. We'll see if we can build on that and take the next step... You don't always do it your first crack at it, that's why you have to go back until you climb that mountain."

PELECH OUT, DOBSON IN:

The Islanders had to play the do-or-die game without one of their top defensemen on Thursday, as Adam Pelech was out with an undisclosed injury that Trotz said would require surgery, which would have kept him out of the remainder of the playoffs.
It was a big blow to the blue line, but the Isles, who dressed seven defensemen for the second straight game, stepped up and accepted the challenge. That included rookie Noah Dobson, the 20-year-old rookie who was making his playoff debut.
"We always play with the next man up mentality," Scott Mayfield said. "Noah stepped in and showed what he can do… We're deep, we have guys who can play. It's tough to lose Adam, but Noah stepped in and did well."
Dobson hadn't played a meaningful game since March 10, though he saw action in the Isles exhibition win over the New York Rangers on July 29. Dobson held his own, skating 12:55 TOI with three hits.
"Our back end is really, really good and Dobber is going to be a big part of the future and the now," Trotz said. "He'll be a big part of it going forward."

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Islanders are headed home while the Lightning are going to stay in Edmonton to take on the Dallas Stars in the Stanly Cup Final.
The start date for next season hasn't been set, but is likely in the December-January range, so it's not far off. Before then, the NHL Draft will take place on Oct. 6-7 and free agency begins on Oct. 9, so there's not much time before things start back up again.
NewYorkIslanders.com will have coverage of all of it, beginning with locker clean outs in the coming days.
Till then, thank you from all of us here for reading, watching and following on social media all season long.