#Islanders know pitfall they must avoid with tall playoff task ahead

Cal Clutterbuck and Ryan Pulock had their doubts about whether a day like Saturday would ever come.

After the NHL suspended its season on March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and days turned into weeks and months, the Islanders sat at home watching and waiting, all while sitting one point out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

But when the NHL finalized a return to play that featured a 24-team tournament, the Islanders got the only thing they needed — a ticket to the dance. The wait may have been long but it allowed their lineup to become more whole in time to drop the puck Saturday against the Panthers in the Stanley Cup qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena.

“Honestly, I don’t think you have to search very far for motivation in this situation,” Clutterback said Friday on a Zoom call from the Toronto bubble. “It’s an opportunity you don’t get all the time. There’s going to be no lack of motivation.”

Even with defenseman Adam Pelech (torn Achilles) and center Casey Cizikas (leg laceration) back in the fold, the Islanders will have their hands full with a Panthers squad that features some high-end offensive weapons, a dangerous power play and a veteran goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky, who, despite a down year, has the potential of changing a playoff series.

But the Islanders are trusting in Barry Trotz’s system, which allowed them to reach the second round of the playoffs last year and gives them confidence they can make another run at it this year, despite the completely different circumstances.

“Obviously it’s going to be tight,” said Pulock, who will have Pelech back beside him on the blue line. “They got some big forwards with skill that we’re going to have to do a good job defensively. They got some D-men that like to get up in the play and can join the rush, which we’re going to have to take care of. And we got to get to their goaltending. So when it comes to playoff time, everything really tightens up. It’s going to be a fun challenge and a fun ride.”

Trotz declined to reveal his starting goalie — Semyon Varlamov got the first two periods in Wednesday’s exhibition against the Rangers with Thomas Greiss coming in for the third — but said he will have every player on the roster available to make his lineup for Saturday’s Game 1.

Trotz said the biggest difference for the Islanders in the series could be avoiding taking penalties. Their penalty kill will be aided by the return of Pelech and Cizikas, but the Panthers feature one of the top power-play units in the league.

“If we can stay out of the penalty box, play our disciplined five-on-five game, I’ll stand our game up five-on-five with anybody,” Trotz said.

That five-on-five game was in a rough patch when play shut down in March, with the Islanders in the midst of a 2-7-4 stretch and a seven-game losing streak. Trotz said he never worried about the Islanders missing the playoffs, believing they were close to working through their issues. Instead, the time off got them healthy and gave trade deadline acquisitions  Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Andy Greene a chance to become better-acquainted with Trotz’s system.

Saturday they will get a look at how it all paid off with the stakes much higher than the last time they took the ice.

“I think we’re in playoff mode,” Trotz said. “We’re going to have a little bit of a meeting tonight, just to tighten up a couple things. But they’ve been working towards this moment, if you will, for the last few months, really, knowing we were going to get back into it. I think we’ve put ourselves in good a place as we can to be at our best. Hopefully our best is good enough.”