Maybe having a great power play isn’t paramount to winning the Stanley Cup. But having a bad one just makes things all that more complicated.

Of the 13 teams that have won the Cup since the 2004-05 cancelled season, only three had power plays that have finished in the bottom third of the league during the regular season, and two of those teams got significantly better once in the playoffs. The Islanders’ man-advantage group, meanwhile, finished the regular season as the third-worst in the league, scoring on just 14.5 percent of its chances.

The outlier would be the 2011 Bruins, who finished the regular season ranked 20th (16.2 percent) and then converted on just 10-of-88 opportunities in the postseason (11.4 percent) en route to winning the Cup. A stalwart on that blue line, Johnny Boychuk, has taken that experience with him to the Islanders as they enter their first-round series with the Penguins starting with Game 1 on Wednesday night at the Coliseum.

“When we went in, I think we had one of the worst power plays,” Boychuk said. “We just took it one game at a time, and played our game and didn’t let anything discourage us. Our PK was really good as well, so that helped out tremendously. Especially if the power play isn’t going, the PK better be going, or else it’s probably an early exit. We did that.”

The Islanders’ penalty kill finished tied for 16th (79.9 percent), but will have its hands full with the Penguins’ fifth-ranked power play (24.6 percent).

“It’s an advantage to have a power play, but even on the PK, you can turn that power play that they have into a positive for your team, with momentum and everything like that,” Boychuk said. “You just have to keep it even keel.”

The Islanders are allowed to grow playoff beards, with team president Lou Lamoriello dropping his clean-shaven dogma for the postseason. Already the leader is werewolf-like defenseman Nick Leddy.

“I might not recognize him tomorrow,” coach Barry Trotz said.

Trotz was trying not to put too much pressure on the first two games at the Coliseum, as his Capitals last year lost their first two games of the first round at home (both in overtime, to the Blue Jackets) before going on to win the Stanley Cup.

“That was the best thing for us,” Trotz said. “We got some focus — not that we weren’t focused — but we dug in and we had to do it on the road. It ended up being the best thing that happened to that group.”