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Contributions from Brendan Burke, Stan Fischler, Chris King, and Jiggs McDonald.
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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
Playoff atmospheres don’t always equate to playoff-quality hockey, but on certain nights the buzz in the arena is matched by the style of play on the ice. In Monday night’s win, the Islanders played a physical, forechecking game to coincide with their improved defensive structure in the neutral zone. It was playoff-esque.
Time and space evaporate in the post-season, and while the talented Devils got their chances, the Islanders made it difficult for them, and Ilya Sorokin did the rest. It takes a similar effort and then some to be successful in the post-season, but this is a team that knows what it takes if and when they get there.
Increasingly, the Islanders’ playoff probability is improving, and it has just as much to do with the teams trailing them as it does with their play. The Isles have played well, but are they deserving to be six points clear of the playoff line and have a three-point lead for the top Wild Card spot? Eh. Maybe not, but who cares? They are the team most deserving and now control their own destiny to finish to 7th in the Eastern Conference and avoid the Boston Bruins.
They had another successful idle night on Tuesday as Pittsburgh lost 7-4 in Detroit. Florida has come up small in recent games, including blowing a 2-0 lead to the New York Rangers on Saturday and losing 5-2 in Ottawa on Monday.
Believe it or not, now there’s even an outside chance the team could clinch a playoff spot by the end of this week if they run the table and receive help from Florida and Buffalo. That might be too much to ask, but the Isles have been getting all the help they could ask for in recent days.
Coming up, the Burkes take a trip to DC, and Pierre Engvall is looking more comfortable by the game. Plus, how Hudson Fasching maintains his balance, a bench photo that deserves a closer look, a rare empty net finish, Gretzky’s final goal, and the Women in Sports event at UBS Arena.
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