Long Island pols push Coliseum for Islanders playoff games

Politicians from Nassau County have starting petitioning the NHL to allow the Islanders to play home playoff games at the Coliseum rather than Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where the team and the league would make far more money.

Letters were sent to commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday, including ones from County Executive Laura Curran and State Assemblyman Ed Ra.

“It is no coincidence that the Islanders are putting up one of their best regular seasons in team history after coming back and playing some home games at the Nassau Coliseum,” Curran wrote (and shared on Twitter).

“On behalf of the thousands of Nassau County residents and Long Islanders who bleed orange and blue, I urge you to give our team the chance to make a bid for the Stanley Cup at the Nassau Coliseum.”

The Islanders lost 3-1 in Boston on Tuesday night but still lead the Metropolitan Division — though calling this “one of their best regular seasons in team history” might be pushing it for a franchise that won four straight Stanley Cups to open the 1980s.

The club is splitting home games between the two venues. The Coliseum has a maximum attendance of 13,971 and Barclays Center can hold 15,795. The biggest discrepancy is that the Coliseum has fewer than 10 suites, while Barclays has close to 100.

As The Post reported weeks ago, the decision where to play the postseason games rests solely with the commissioner. Bettman said at All-Star weekend in San Jose that all of the relevant parties would be consulted before a decision is made, but that ultimately it was the league’s to make.

With the league taking a larger portion of revenue in the postseason versus the regular season, it’s hard to see it choosing less money just to have a more vibrant environment for the Islanders.

“There is no doubt that the atmosphere provided by the fans in the Coliseum affects the players,” Ra wrote, “and contributes to the energy that they bring to the game.”