On Friday night, the Islanders were one win away from reaching hockey’s grandest stage for the first time since 1984, one goal from prolonging their season with a chance to win their first title since they claimed four consecutive N.H.L.
Tampa Bay will play the Montreal Canadiens with a chance to repeat as the champion, while Montreal will look for its first title since 1993, the last time it was in the finals.
The Canadiens are one of the most storied franchises in all sports, winners of a league-record 24 titles dating to 1916, while the Lightning have been in the league since just 1992-93.
This season’s edition of Les Habitants did not seem much like the long-lost heir to a dynasty.
The Lightning, meanwhile, have ridden the hot goaltending of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who recorded his fourth consecutive series-clinching shutout, dating to Tampa’s win over the Dallas Stars in last year’s finals.
He came off the bench on a shift change and was wide open when all of the Islanders followed Anthony Cirelli into the corner.
The Islanders had chances, especially when Mathew Barzal was staring down at an open net late in the third period, but he could not control a bouncing puck.
The loss signaled the end of an era for the Islanders.
There were many losing seasons in the old barn, as the Coliseum was often called, plus questionable management decisions, ownership issues and attempts to move the team.
Then in May 2018, the Islanders hired Lou Lamoriello as their president, and he hired Barry Trotz, who had just led the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup championship, as head coach.
“This group is special,” Trotz said.
In 2019, the Islanders won one round in the playoffs, and last year they made it to the conference final, losing in six games, also to Tampa.
Barring something unexpected, the Islanders’ final moments at Nassau Coliseum will be among their best, short of their championships.