Late in the third period Friday night, Mathew Barzal had a chance to tie Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinals, but he whiffed on a bouncing puck. He could have been the equalizer, the hero, the savior.
Instead, he was distraught — eyes red, tears swelling, tongue twitching — after the Islanders’ 1-0 loss to the Lightning.
Wearing a Stanley Cup Playoffs hat and shirt that personified a run that was no more, Barzal cried. He cried because he could not deliver for the veterans he respects and idolizes. He cried because he and his teammates had gotten so close to reaching the Stanley Cup Final, yet finished so far away, losing in the semifinals to Tampa Bay for a second straight season.
“It sucks,” Barzal said. “It sucks getting back to this point and coming up short again.”
Brock Nelson rubbed his chin, his neck and his forehead, staring off into the distance any chance he could get. His normally messy hair was messier than usual, jumbled by the pushes and pulls of his fluttering right hand.
“Yeah, it sucks,” Nelson said. “We gave away a goal. We had some pressure in the third period, but weren’t able to find one.”
Josh Bailey didn’t hold back, either. The white brim of his hat shaded his eyes, which were full of moisture. His posture was tilted forward, full of pain.
“It hurts right now,” Bailey said. “It hurts.”
Scott Mayfield, a usually eccentric character, was mourning, too. His darting gaze showed a distracted mind, one desperately trying to stay positive, one desperately trying to focus on all the good.
“Back to back, being in the last four teams, that’s not a fluke,” Mayfield said. “We believe in ourselves. We’re a confident group. This stings right now.”
It sucks. It hurts. It stings. Each player had his own description, but no matter how you phrase it, the Islanders were devastated. They were one goal away from a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup, from getting a step closer to eternal glory.
Instead, the Islanders headed home. After embarking on a long, sleepless flight full of dreams about what could have been, they face a long, arduous offseason with a quest for redemption in mind.
“This group has been committed. I wish I could take their pain away,” head coach Barry Trotz said. “I’ve had the opportunity to have won a Cup and know how that feels and I really wanted this group to feel that as well.”