Win-now Isles must still believe in themselves heading into Game 3 vs. Lightning

Barring a minor hockey miracle in the Eastern Conference finals, you can anticipate the narrative regarding the Islanders’ season come next week.

They earned the respect of the NHL by overachieving with a roster light on stars, endured an extra postseason round, went deeper than any Islanders team in 27 years and represented the sport and Long Island with class.

All of which is true, and all of which should be part of how this team is remembered if this is the end of its road.

But this also is true: Before they depart to an uncertain offseason, it is crucial not to let go easily of the fingernail hold they have on the playoff cliff, trailing the Lightning, 2-0.

That is because the false part of the post-mortem narrative will be when people say that going this far is a learning experience to build on for 2020-21 and beyond.

NBC analyst Keith Jones got that theory rolling even before the series began when he called it “bonus time” for the Isles.

No. No, no, no and no.

That sort of thinking sometimes makes sense for a young, rising team, even more so in an era when there was less player movement than now. (I’m looking at you, Islanders of the late 1970s.)

But not in this case. Not with a veteran team built to win now, and not in a sport that is so unpredictable.

None of the 2017 conference finalists made it back in 2018, and none in 2018 made it back in 2019, and none in 2019 made it back in 2020.

Add to that the Islanders’ list of birthdays, which skews heavily to the George H.W. Bush Administration.

Of the 20 players who dressed for Game 2, 13 were 28 or older and seven were 27 or younger. (And that is with Johnny Boychuk, 36, getting another healthy scratch.)

Of the six on the ice when Nikita Kucherov scored the game-winner with 8.8 seconds left to make it 2-1, four were 32 or older.

It is not that the Islanders are an old team, but they certainly are not a young team, even with new blood such as 25-year-old goaltender Ilya Sorokin waiting in the wings (and observing this playoff run in person).

The Lightning illustrate how difficult this stuff is.

They defied the odds by reaching the conference finals four times in six years, but they have made only one Stanley Cup Final (so far) and last year were swept in the first round by Columbus after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in the regular season.

The one time they won the conference finals was in seven games over the Rangers in 2015, a year after the Rangers lost to the Kings in the Cup Final. The Rangers have won one playoff series in the five seasons since.

On Thursday, Trotz and his players said all the right things about their strong Game 2 effort and what could be in store Friday night in Game 3.

“I think the belief in our room is real good,” Trotz said. “I just feel like this series is real close to flipping here and our game is back to where it should be.”

Captain Anders Lee added, “That belief’s there. We believe in ourselves in this group.”

It does not matter whether that is wishful thinking or real life. Belief is mandatory at this stage, including a belief that there is nothing “bonus” about this. It is earned, and not to be squandered.

Josh Bailey had it right after Game 2. “It’s no time to get down," he said. "There are a lot of teams out there that would like to be in our spot right now.”

Come next season’s tournament, whenever that is, the Islanders could well be one of those teams wishing they were here. Carpe diem.

So sure, beating the Lightning four out of five is going to be a monumental task. But just getting here in the first place was the rarer accomplishment.

Don’t waste it.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.