During crucial games throughout the season, Head Coach Lane Lambert led by emphasizing the message of focusing on one game at a time.
"The next game is all we can control," Lambert said. "Our focus is only the next game, that's critical. You can't do anything about the past. Just have to move forward and worry about one game."
The Islanders needed all 82 games to clinch a playoff spot and went 19-9-4 in final 32 games of the season to qualify for the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
"The whole group... we believe we can do this," Aho said. "The last month of the season we had to win most of our games, and we did, so we're kind of used to it. We know how to handle it and what to expect and that's a big thing."
The Islanders will travel to Raleigh and face the pressure of an energized home crowd for Game Five on Tuesday. Although the Islanders dropped the first two games of the series on the road, the games were decided by a single goal, and Game Two was decided in overtime.
"It's always hard, it's extremely loud," Pageau said of the hostile road atmosphere. "They compete really hard and the crowd gets behind them. Every shot, even if it's dangerous or not, they're happy and they're yelling. But if we look back at the last game, we played there and I thought we played a really good game."
The Islanders have a core group of veterans who've battled back in similar situations, rebounding after losses in big games.
"The focus is on tomorrow and we have we have to find a way to win one game," Pulock said. "There's a lot of guys in this locker room that have been in these positions before and learned things along the way. Just have to bring the right mindset and everyone has to be prepared to give our best effort tomorrow."