"People are going to look at it certain ways and spin things different ways, but really we're just focusing on it as a chance to move on to the second round," Bailey said. "It's not been easy to this point and it's not going to be easy tonight. We're not really thinking about anything else other than going in prepared and ready to go for a big Game 7."
After failing to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, the Islanders won 47 games this season and finished third in the Metropolitan Division. They've had to play this first-round series without defenseman Travis Hamonic, who sustained an undisclosed injury in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Lubomir Visnovsky, another veteran defenseman, is also out after being hit by Capitals forward Tom Wilson during Game 4. Calvin de Haan was injured in Game 5.
Yet here are the Islanders, surviving to reach Game 7 with a chance to win a playoff series for the first time since 1993.
