The hard part is almost over for the Islanders.

Three games in four days — in Montreal, Winnipeg and Minnesota — then the finish line will be in sight for this 13-game odyssey to open the season. They’re home now, practicing at Northwell Health Ice Center between games in Nashville and Montreal. The Islanders aren’t just playing on the road for five straight weeks to open the season, they’re also playing just two games in 12 days smack dab in the middle.

That would be strange, if it wasn’t something of a mercy.

“I think we’ve been fortunate enough, obviously we’ve had a long trip to start the season, [but] we’ve come back now and had time at home,” captain Anders Lee said on a Zoom call Monday. “So although you don’t have the crowd behind you, you do get to be back in your own bed a couple times throughout this whole stand. It’s tough, it’s long, it is what it is.”

Coach Barry Trotz has been active in trying to keep his team fresh. He’s pointed out a number of times that, counting preseason “home” games that the Islanders played in Bridgeport, this is really a seven-week stretch without playing in their own building. That building, UBS Arena, opens Nov. 20, and the Islanders will see the fruits of this stretch soon after — they play 10 home games in December with just four on the road.

Right now, though, they’re grinding through it, and Trotz is trying to make it as tolerable as it can be. He gave the team three days off last week upon returning from a back-to-back at Vegas and Arizona. After losing in a shootout to Nashville on Saturday, the Islanders had Sunday off ahead of Thursday’s game at the Canadiens.

“Me personally, I’ve looked at two things. It takes a little bit of a toll on the players, the travel and the pressures that their families have been [under],” Trotz said. “They miss their kids, all that, so I’ve been very conscious of making sure we get time at home when we’re here. Making sure that we’re getting rest when we’re here, so that when we get on those back-to-backs or these four in six [nights] and stuff, we have pretty good energy.”

The Isles have the misfortune of being well-versed in scheduling quirks. After splitting time between Brooklyn and Long Island for a few seasons and having unscheduled days off last season when the Sabres suffered a COVID-19 outbreak, why not open this season with the second-longest trip in NHL history? At least now, there’s a payoff.

“I think we’ve accepted that we’ve got a long road trip and we’re looking forward to doing well and then getting a bunch of home games,” Trotz said. “Hopefully we can make good on our home games.”

This leg of the trip also has the perk of being the Isles’ first trip to Canada since the pandemic. For some, like Ottawa native Jean-Gabriel Pageau, that means time with family, who he’ll get to see before the Montreal game.

“All my buddies are definitely Habs fans,” Pageau said. “It’s just extra motivation for me personally. I was a Detroit Red Wings fan so it’s nothing really to look into that. But it’s always fun to go there.”

After dropping a point at Nashville despite out-shooting the Predators 36-23, Trotz wants to see the Islanders tighten things up.

“Some stuff offensively, a little bit more support on the puck,” he said. “I think we can help ourselves, a little more zone time. We can be a little more dangerous in some areas. I think a couple of our protocols, we’re slipping a little bit.”

That can be the focus for the next couple days, between time with family and catching up on rest. It’s their chance to enjoy a home away from road.