Columbus and NY Islanders.
One team was 25-22 in regulation-decided games this year. The other was 24-23.
One team scored 172 goals and allowed 173 (in regulation). The other scored 181 goals and allowed 183.
The first of those teams was Columbus and the other was the Islanders, to be clear, but the broader point is that, if we start talking about the Islanders as being "twice the team" Columbus is, or stuff like that, we're being prisoners of the moment. In terms of output and results, these teams were pretty much identical this season.
Now, if you wanna point out that the Blue Jackets series was deceptively short, I wouldn't disagree. Four one-goal wins, two OT decisions. To that extent, it wasn't an easy series at all and, by extension, would suggest the Islanders won't be easy either. That's fine, that's fair. But it is to suggest that, if we could dispatch of Columbus, we should be able to dispatch of the Islanders as well. I'm really not seeing what I'm supposed to be looking at with them that should have be deeply concerned. They're a .500 hockey team. Treat them like one.