Good Morning, Islanders Country.
For what should’ve been a meaningless and forgetful game, the 2023-24 regular-season finale had more than its fair share of memorable moments. Ruslan Iskhakov made his NHL debut in Jeff Carter’s 1,321th and final NHL game. Evgeni Malkin kicked in a goal that counted. Brock Nelson kicked in a goal that didn’t. Kyle Palmieri reached 30 goals for the first time with the Islanders, and Sidney Crosby had a penalty shot with the game on the line in the final minute. It was a highly entertaining, if not ultra competitive or physical, 60 minutes of hockey on fan appreciation night that was wide open.
It was a fun end to a season that we could look back favorably on because of the way the regular season ended. The Islanders went 8-0-1 in their final nine games. If they had gone 7-2-0, they would’ve missed the playoffs. That’s just how good they needed to be to pull this off.
The odds will similarly be stacked against them when they start their series against one of the Stanley Cup favorites, the Carolina Hurricanes, on Saturday night. Can they pull off the upset? I don’t know, but what I do know is that their chances are better than they were to make the playoffs three weeks ago.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Isles Fix to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.