As the New York Islanders get set to host the Carolina Hurricanes for Game 3 of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Thursday, the team is excited to get back in front of their fans and channel the energy of their home crowd.
“It's going to be electric,” Casey Cizikas said. “It's always electric at UBS Arena and that's the biggest thing we thrive off of as players."
Trailing the series 2-0 to the Hurricanes, the Islanders are determined to make a push and respond with the change in venue. With a fired-up home crowd at UBS Arena behind them, the Islanders are revved up to play their best hockey at a pivotal point in the series.
"Now we get to come home and play in our building, play in front of our fans who I know are going to be excited," Mathew Barzal said. "[We'll] try to give them a good show for two games and play our best hockey of the year and that's what we need."
Though the first two games of the First Round against the Hurricanes didn’t go their way, the Islanders are staying even-keel knowing that the complexion of a playoff series can change quickly - especially when home ice advantage flips to New York.
"We're going back home, it's like a totally new series," JG Pageau said. "That's going to be our mindset. Now we have the energy and the crowd on our side, we know they're going to be super loud, and we need that. They're our seventh man out there."