PITTSBURGH — There was laughter, and smiles, and the kind of small competitions that are less for practical purposes as for mental relief.
In all of yesterday afternoon’s fun and games, there was no way to know that just 15 hours prior, on the same ice at the CONSOL Energy Center, the same group of Islanders were finishing up an ugly and thorough beating at the hands of the Penguins. The Isles lost, 5-0, and went down in their first-round, best-of-seven series 1-0.
“No sense in dwelling on it,” defenseman Travis Hamonic told The Post after the short practice. “If you lose a game 1-0 in six overtimes or if you lose 10-0, it amounts to the same thing at this point. I think we’re a team that plays a lot better when we’re loose and having fun and just kind of playing. I think we can get back to that.”
For all of the Islanders’ youth and inexperience, they know what they have been through this season and what it’s going to take to keep it going, starting tonight in Game 2.
“Let’s be honest, this year really hasn’t been roses for us,” Hamonic said. “We had a good stretch there for three weeks, a month. Besides that, it’s been all up and down and we’ve had to face some issues as a group.”
The Islanders went 11-2-4 over the final 17 games of the season, and got into the postseason for the first time in six years as the eighth seed. Playing the mighty Penguins, who ran away with the Eastern Conference even while battling key injuries, was never going to be an easy task. But not many people picked the Islanders to be here in the first place, so they honestly have nothing to lose.
“We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy series,” Hamonic said. “We knew there were going to be moments where they’re all over us, and we knew there were going to be times when we weren’t going to win every game. We’re seeing it now, so we’ll test that theory out.”
The looseness of practice also speaks to the confidence coach Jack Capuano and his staff have in his players to self-police and self-motivate. After watching the tape of Game 1, Capuano wasn’t even all that discouraged.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was,” Capuano said. “When you look at the [scoring] chances overall and you go through it, we have to play better. But it wasn’t as bad as I originally thought it was.”
Now that Game 1 is behind them, the focus is on responding to adversity. The Islanders have spent a lot of the season doing just that, with a spirited creativity that has bred confidence. Now under the heat and pressure of the playoffs, there is no more trial and error.
“We’re playing against a very good hockey team,” Capuano said, “but you have to enjoy this ride. There are going to be surges, there is going to be momentum [shifts], but you have to stay relaxed.”
* There was no update on whether Penguins star Sidney Crosby (broken jaw) could be available tonight. It also looks doubtful Pittsburgh sniper James Neal will play after he left Game 1 early in the second period with an ankle injury.
Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov said he is fine after taking a Jarome Iginla shot in the helmet early in the first period. The helmet, meanwhile, will be retired.