It is an honor for a team if it can maintain its true identity in the heat of the playoffs. It also can be a problem. For the Islanders, the postseason has been a continuation of a theme that has been running like a leaky faucet for seven years: Trying to find the right guy to skate alongside John Tavares.
Maintaining that search now, deep into the series against the Lightning and deep in a 3-1 hole, is a little like holding auditions as the curtain goes up on opening night. That is what makes it so vexing.