NY Islanders identity line still making an impact after all these years

They've been through almost everything together.

There were those two seasons when Matt Martin was in Toronto that we've all erased from memory, but even still, the line of Casey Cizikas, Cal Clutterbuck, and Martin has been intact for six trips to the postseason for the New York Islanders since 2014-15, inflicting their will on opponents and setting a tone for their teammates.

NY Islanders identity line still making an impact after all these years

It was expected that the line, once dubbed "the best fourth line ever," would make its usual physical impact as the Islanders returned home for Game 3 at UBS Arena, but they did a lot more than that.

Cizikas broke a scoreless tie in the second period when he bounced up after taking a hit along the boards and was found by Ryan Pulock all alone in front and put a shot above the shoulder of Antti Raanta for the first playoff goal ever at UBS Arena.

"It's definitely nice to produce on the offensive end," said Cizikas. "That's not really what we're set out to do. We try to be physical, try to wear teams down. To be able to get a couple of goals tonight was definitely nice."

After a Kyle Palmieri deflection gave the Islanders the lead on the power play with 3:51 remaining, one more big push from Carolina was expected. But victory went from likely to certain when Martin took a feed from Palmieri and beat Raanta with a wrist shot just 44 seconds later.

Scoring a pair of goals was extra special for a line that has seen and experienced everything this franchise has gone through in recent years, including the moves from Long Island to Brooklyn and back to Belmont. It felt right that those responsible for so many memories in the old building created the first ones in the new arena.

"You look at our group; a lot of us have been together a long time, and [it's special] to be able to see this through with the group of guys you've really kinda grown up with ... so many guys I've played with for such a long time here, Martin said.

"We want to win together, and we have that opportunity in front of us right now."