(This is the concluding part of a six-part series celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1981 Stanley Cup Champions: here are parts one, two, three, four, and five). The 1981 Stanley Cup Final pitted the New York Islanders against the upstart Minnesota North Stars: the league’s defending champion as well and top regular ...

The New York Islanders will travel to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning this Friday in what is the franchise’s 14th playoff series that has gone the limit. Series-deciding games are unusual: in Islanders history, they are rare if nevertheless memorable.  So, as the Islanders and their fans look forward ...

The opening contest of the New York Islanders& Tampa Bay Lightning series saw the Isles embrace their forecheck that frustrated Tampa Bay’s breakouts and forced turnovers. While the pressure was not constant—the Lightning had the better of play in the opening and closing minutes, as well as during a few ...

One of the most pleasant surprises of Game 5 was that the Islanders spread their scoring throughout their lineup. Although the media has rightly highlighted Mathew Barzal’s renewed offensive success, through the first four games of the series only Barzal, Kyle Palmieri, J.G. Pageau, and Casey Cizikas had scored more ...

(This is part five of a six-part series celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1981 Stanley Cup Champions: here are parts one, two, three, and four) The 1981 Stanley Cup semifinals featured the rematch that some welcomed and some dreaded, as the Islanders confronted the past as well as the ...

(This is part four of a six-part series on the 1980-81 New York Islanders. You can find part one here, part two here, and part three here) Hindsight often allows us to foreshadow in ways that make us all feel smart. Such is the case with the Islanders’ 1981 quarterfinal ...

(This is part three of a six-part series: part one is here and part two is here). The New York Islanders finished the 1980-81 season as champions of the Patrick Division and the Clarence Campbell Conference, edging out the St. Louis Blues for the latter trophy by a mere three ...

(Second of a six-part series commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 1981 Stanley Cup Champions: part one is here) The 1980-81 NHL season offered the Islanders a chance to answer the question posed of any champion: could they repeat? Freed from years of whispers about choking and collapsing, and with ...

The past seven days of the Islanders’ schedule served as a rude reminder of the ups and downs of an NHL season. Recoiling from two disappointing losses to Washington that all but closed a run at the division championship, the Isles bounced back with two solid shutout wins against the ...

Fan bases are prone to overreact to how their team is doing. A few wins in a row leads to glowing optimism. That is the way things should be (and will always be), while a losing streak leads to wailing which is the way things are and that they are ...