UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Alex Klein’s minibus is painted the green and white of the Jets, but it is also festooned with orange and blue flags, towels and other accouterments.

“Only real die-hard fans tailgate before hockey games,” said Klein, who usually parks his vehicle outside the Marriott Hotel that faces Nassau Coliseum, the Islanders’ home rink since 1972. “Sometimes you get rain, snow, cold, and you have to be ready.

“But meeting new fans and hanging with friends, talking hockey — what could be better?”

Klein, 48, a salesman from Roslyn, N.Y., is one of many fans celebrating the Islanders’ revival this season with a boisterous and windswept camaraderie. Their team, which took over first place in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division on Sunday, looks all but certain to head to the playoffs for the second time since 2007.

During the team’s last postseason trip, in 2013, young fans got a taste of what Long Island was like in the early 1980s, the Islanders’ glory years, when the team won four straight Stanley Cups.