Islanders happy to reach end of the road and move into new home

SUNRISE, Fla. — The Islanders can truly finally come home.

Tuesday night’s match against the Panthers at FLA Live Arena marks the end of their season-opening, 13-game road trip, an extended stretch necessary to complete enough work on UBS Arena for the Islanders' new, $1.1 billion home to be ready to host hockey.

The Islanders will christen their long-awaited, modern building on Saturday night against the Calgary Flames.

"I think everybody’s got the home opener circled for sure, there’s no denying that," Brock Nelson said before Tuesday’s game. "You couldn’t really overlook the games we had, the trips. They were kind of broken up so we had some breaks where we were able to get home and get some rest."

In all, the Islanders played 13 road games over 34 days, spending 19 of those nights in hotels in Raleigh, North Carolina; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Glendale, Arizona; Las Vegas; Nashville, Tennessee; Montreal; Winnipeg; St. Paul, Minnesota; Tampa, Florida; plus two trips to Sunrise. The longest segment before one of the returns to Long Island was the first six games over 12 nights.

It was, it almost goes without saying, the longest road trip in franchise history.

"There’s obviously excitement in the new building," Matt Martin said. "But the trip’s not done. We’ve got to keep our focus and energy and our emotions in check and find a way to win a hockey game. Then we can be excited about playing in front of our fans and having them create energy for us."

The Islanders entered Tuesday’s game having lost three straight in regulation, including Monday night’s 4-1 loss to the Lightning.

"What I found is it’s been harder to sustain momentum because you don’t have a crowd behind you," coach Barry Trotz said. "We haven’t had, really, a rhythm. We’ve played some games and then they send us home for a few days and then we’d go back on the road. Then we had a big break [one game in 10 days between Oct. 25-Nov. 3]. It’s probably set some of our players out of sorts.

"I’ve had harder times in terms of schedules with number of games. But I think it’s just more the rhythm than anything."

One potential positive, providing the Islanders can establish a home-ice advantage, is they have just 28 more road games over their final 69 of the season.

The Islanders open UBS Arena with a four-game homestand and play 14 of their next 20 there.

Again, that will only be an advantage if the Islanders can draw the same kind of energy playing at UBS Arena they were used to playing at the cramped, antiquated but beloved Nassau Coliseum.

"It really won’t be our home rink for a while," Trotz said. "Calgary will have been in that rink pretty well as long as we have. It’s like a neutral-site game for the first month. But we’re thrilled that we’re getting into a new rink. It’s great for the fans and it’s great for the franchise."

This extended road trip was also easier on the players than it would have been under last season’s stricter COVID-19 guidelines and protocols.

This season, players can go out to restaurants or have time away from the team hotels.

"We actually got a day off in Chicago, so we got to spend some time together," defenseman Scott Mayfield said. "When you get time off like that, especially on the road when you’re not spending it with family at home, you just grow closer as a team. We had dinner and just had a good time. That’s the kind of stuff you remember."

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.