Lightning ready to face Islanders

Experience is an invaluable ally in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

There’s little the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning hasn’t encountered during deep postseason runs five of the past seven years. The New York Islanders haven’t achieved as much but have progressed enough in three seasons under Barry Trotz to not feel like heavy underdogs in the Stanley Cup semifinals.

“We believe we’re a good team. We expected to be here. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy … but coming into the season, we expected to be here,” New York’s Matt Martin said. “We’re proud and happy with what we’ve accomplished to this point, but the job is still not done and we have our sights set on going all the way.”

The opener Sunday is a best-of-7 rematch of the 2020 Eastern Conference final, which was played in the NHL bubble in Edmonton, Alberta, and won by Tampa Bay in six games.

The teams did not meet during the condensed 56-game regular season, which was limited to divisional play due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Whether we played each other last week, or last month, or three months ago, it doesn’t really matter. We know what to expect from them, and they know what to expect from us,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

“They have a bevy of talent there, and they have a coach that pushes them all in the right direction. That’s why they’re good,” Cooper added.

Or that Tampa Bay is in the NHL’s final four for a fifth time in seven seasons. The Lightning has won a franchise-best six consecutive playoff series since being swept in the first round by Columbus two years ago.

A big reason for its success: Nikita Kucherov is showing why he’s one of the league’s best players with 18 points in 11 games after missing the entire regular season while recovering from hip surgery.

The Lightning is starting a series at home for the first time this postseason. It won Games 1 and 2 on the road each of the previous two rounds, against the Panthers and Hurricanes.

ELSEWHERE

• Canadiens: Montreal forward Jake Evans, who has not played since sustaining a concussion on a hit by Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele on June 2, will accompany the Canadiens to Las Vegas for the semifinal series against the Golden Knights.