
The New York Islanders' first final run at Nassau Coliseum began just over 10 years ago.
Early in the season, it was fan favorite Frans Nielsen who stole the show, registering a hat trick on this day in 2014.

On that fateful night, the Old Barn was in for a barn burner when the Islanders hosted the Dallas Stars.
The scoring started in the first period, with Anders Lee and Vernon Fiddler trading goals in the first 14 minutes of play. Nikolai Kulemin answered with a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1 Islanders after 20.
In the second, Brock Nelson padded New York's lead to 3-1, but three straight Stars goals gave Dallas the lead.
However, Lubomir Visnovsky leveled the game at four apiece after 40 minutes, setting the stage for Nielsen's heroics.
Nielsen's first two goals came on two-on-one rushes, the first with Kulemin and the second with Mikhail Grabovski. All three players on that line came up with points on the first two goals:
His third came after Shawn Horcoff made it 6-5 with less than five minutes to go.
With Dallas looking to strike on the empty net, Nielsen intercepted a pass and shot the puck into the cage with 0.1 seconds left to finish a 7-5 win and his first-career hat trick.
The Islanders improved to 6-2-0 with the win, furthering a historic start that led to a playoff berth in what was, originally, Nassau Coliseum's final season as their home.
The performance is a defining moment of Nielsen's tenure with the Islanders, a player that fans refer to as one of the more underrated ones of his era.
In 606 games with the franchise, he totaled 167 goals and 306 assists for 473 points, although he's largely renowned for his signature backhand shot in the shootout.
His tenure came to an end in 2016 when he signed with the Detroit Red Wings that summer.
Nielsen played five years with them before his contract was bought out, with Nielsen retiring in 2022 following the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships.