Islanders won't forget Hurricanes knocked them out of playoffs

Of course, the Islanders had a little extra motivation against the Hurricanes on Saturday night at UBS Arena, the teams’ first meeting since their six-game, first-round series ended in the building with the hosts heading into their offseason.

“When you get knocked out by a team, it’s always salty in your mouth,” defenseman Scott Mayfield said.

 The Hurricanes eliminated the Islanders 2-1 in overtime on April 28, the fourth one-goal game of that series. The Hurricanes also swept the Islanders in the second round in 2019.

“You never forget who knocked you out of the playoffs,” coach Lane Lambert said. “It’s a new season, though. They’ve got five new guys in their lineup that didn’t play in that last game. Definitely, you certainly have memories.”

“You remember the postseason runs no matter how they end up and who knocks you out,” center Brock Nelson said. “You probably hang onto that for your entire career and it’s something you’ll probably always think about.”

 But more important factors than playoff revenge were at stake facing the Hurricanes. The match — on Hockey Fights Cancer Night — opened a tough, three-game stretch that might just yield more context as to the actual relative strength of the Islanders’ 5-2-2 start entering Saturday. The Hurricanes, who won the Metropolitan Division last season, also entered Saturday’s game with the same 12 points as the Islanders.

  None of the Islanders’ first five wins came against a team ahead of them in the NHL standings.

  The Islanders also host the Wild — projected to be one of the Western Conference playoff contenders despite their shaky start — on Tuesday and face the Bruins, who entered Saturday without a regulation loss, on the road on Thursday.

 “It’s a combination,” captain Anders Lee said when asked whether the Islanders judge themselves against the teams they play or mostly based on self-analysis. “Everyone’s trying to put themselves in good position at this time of the year and some teams are off to really good starts and playing really good hockey, so that offers its own test. At the same time, we’re trying to get to that point as well.”

 “Any time you have a matchup against a team that’s on a roll and at the top, you want to see how you stack up and let everyone know you’re right there and you can compete,” Nelson said. “At the same time, you’re always looking to build. We beat Washington [3-0 on the road on Thursday], which was a huge win for us within the division, but it wasn’t a clean game. So we’re looking to play a better style of hockey.”

 Putting more emphasis on divisional games against the Hurricanes or the Capitals, who come to UBS Arena this coming Saturday, is the fact that the divisional rivals only play each other three or four times.

 “You have less opportunity to make up on it,” Lee said. “So it’s just that much more important.”

 In all, the Islanders play seven divisional games in November, finishing in Carolina on Nov. 30.

 But Mayfield downplayed the notion the Islanders needed to validate their 5-2-2 start with wins against teams that might be considered stronger opponents.

 “Even at the beginning of the season, almost every team seems pretty equal,” Mayfield said. “It’s kind of funny, you always hear the NHL is all about parity and how close every team is. But then fans, media sometimes expect you to win certain nights and expect easier teams. It’s kind of a double-standard sometimes. For me, every team is a good hockey team. There’s a lot of good players in this league.”

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.