TAMPA, Fla. — If the Islanders believe getting to the second round is enough; or that playing a couple of winnable games at home against the Lightning, which they lost, represents enough of a stepping stone into the summer; or they are prepared to accept their fate here in Sunday afternoon’s potential elimination Game 5, then good luck to them.

Because even in recognizing that putting an end to the 23-year itch did represent something meaningful to the fan base (as it should have), this cannot be enough to satisfy anyone drawing paychecks from the franchise.

Maybe the Islanders hadn’t been here since the first year of the first Clinton presidential term, but eight teams get to the second round every spring and few remember. No glory comes from aiming high but shooting low.

(Not many goals come from shooting low at Ben Bishop, either, but that is a different story.)

This is the time for the Islanders, who have had the better of the play for a majority of the series’ 244:22, to step up. This is the time for the Islanders’ best players to step up. This is the time for Jack Capuano to coach with quiet desperation.

We can celebrate the unique place the Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Cal Clutterbuck fourth line has on its team’s depth chart, but the truth is that though it is something very fine indeed for Martin, Cizikas and Clutterbuck when they are the Islanders’ best players (as they were for much of Games 3 and 4), it is not so fine for the Islanders.

This isn’t a fair fight for John Tavares, whose time and space have been limited by the Lightning, and whose support as a franchise player has been limited by general manager Garth Snow’s inability — or refusal — to use some of the organization’s overflow of prospects as bait to acquire a worthy partner both to aid the center and deflect some of the attention and responsibility on No. 91’s back.

“Hey, we’ve got Bryan Trottier, so there is no need to acquire Butch Goring to play behind him, and there isn’t even the need to draft Mike Bossy to play with him,” said Bill Torrey, never.

Tavares had seven attempts against Bishop, but only one shot in Friday’s Game 4, 2-1 overtime defeat. He has been held off the board for three straight games after recording a goal and assist in the series-opening victory that followed his bravura performance against the Panthers that produced five goals, four assists and history.

Now, up in class in this round, he needs help. He needs the kind of help Nikita Kucherov gets from Tyler Johnson; that Johnson gets from Alex Killorn; that Killorn gets from Valtteri Filppula; that Filppula gets from Jonathan Drouin; that Drouin gets from Ondrej Palat.

On one wing, Tavares has known commodity Kyle Okposo. On the other, for the most part he has had either Alan Quine or Shane Prince. Then again, Wayne Gretzky had Bill Berg on his wing for a while in New York when Colin Campbell was behind the bench, so maybe that’s the coaching template Jack Capuano has adopted. Ah, not likely.

The Islanders need more from Frans Nielsen, whom Capuano may have to shift out of the middle of the second line to Tavares’ left side even if the coach is loath to do so because of No. 51’s importance as a match-up center. They need more from Nick Leddy on both sides of the puck and much more from the decidedly ordinary Calvin de Haan-Johnny Boychuk pair.

Tampa Bay finished with three fewer points than the Islanders. The Lightning is playing without Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman. It’s a good team, an experienced team with some pedigree, but we’re not talking the ’98 Red Wings here either.

The Islanders have had a nice little spring. But that is all it has been. Lots and lots of teams have nice little springs. If that is enough for the Islanders, we’ll find out Sunday. If that is enough for the Islanders, then good luck to them.