On Friday night, the New York Islanders will skate into Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs. The team continues their unlikely post-season march after sweeping the Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup two times in the past three years.

The fact that the Islanders are not just in the playoffs but thriving would be a surprise to anyone following the team at the beginning of the season. Last year, the Isles finished at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division. And during the off-season, franchise star John Tavares left Long Island for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

For hardcore Islanders fans, another disappointing season would have been a return to familiar territory. Even though the team was on top of the sports world in the 1980s, winning four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1979-1983, the Isles have slogged through the past 36 years in various states of mismanagement and botched attempts at rebuilding the franchise.

But under the leadership of new head coach Barry Trotz, who carried the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup win last year, the team has thrived. Backed by a strong defensive core, and top-of-the-league goal-tending under net-minders Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss, the Islanders stayed on top of their division for most of the year.

The team's return to success coincided with their return — albeit a temporary one — to the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. But even though the rest of the playoffs will take place at the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn, the fact that the Islanders once again have a shot at a deep playoff run is leaving many Long Islanders with a renewed sense of hometown pride.