#Islanders want to match Capitals’ ‘desperation’ in Game 4

“#Islanders want to match Capitals’ ‘desperation’ in Game 4”

August 17, 2020 | 10:02pm

The Islanders are in the driver’s seat of their first-round playoff series against the Capitals, but they know they can’t let their foot off the gas pedal now.

Barry Trotz’s crew has a chance to sweep his old team Tuesday night in Game 4 as the Islanders try to finish the job before the 2018 Stanley Cup champs can grasp any kind of momentum and extend the series.

“Obviously trying to close a team out and their season is one of the toughest things,” Brock Nelson said Monday on a Zoom call. “They’re going to come hard and we have to raise our level to kind of finish the job. We got ourselves in a good spot, but the work isn’t done yet.

“If they come at you and get that belief, kind of snowball that — we want to take that away.”

The Islanders have been in this position before. They had a chance to sweep the Panthers in the best-of-five qualifying round and couldn’t do it, but came back to beat them in four games. They were also up 3-0 in last year’s first round against the Penguins and sealed the deal in Game 4 in Pittsburgh.

Islanders go for the sweep against Capitals tomorrow night.Getty Images

“We have to be ready to go and match their desperation,” Nelson said. “They’re playing like there’s no tomorrow because if they lose, they’re done. We need to be ready to go and raise our level.”

Adam Pelech continued to show in Game 3 that he hasn’t skipped a beat since coming back from an Achilles injury in January. The defenseman went nearly seven months without playing a game but has been sharp in his return, including setting up the Islanders’ first goal Sunday.

“I don’t know if it surprised me,” said Ryan Pulock, Pelech’s partner on the top defensive pair. “We kind of expected it. He’s just one of those guys that’s pretty low key, but he always shows up and he always does his job. He’s been so steady for us throughout these playoffs.”

Trotz said everybody was on the ice for a short practice Monday. … The Capitals did not hold a full-team practice, but their extras skated and Nicklas Backstrom joined them, coach Todd Reirden said. The veteran center has missed the past two games while in the concussion protocol following a big hit from Anders Lee in Game 1. His status for Game 4 remains undetermined.