"Everyone is scoreboard watching," said New York Islanders center Brayden Schenn, following another night where every team battling for a playoff spot seemed to win again.
Another night, another round of victories for the teams battling each other for the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, who are in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 83 points, beat the Colorado Avalanche 7-2.
The New York Islanders, who are in third place in the Metro with 83 points, beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.
And the Columbus Blue Jackets, which are on the outside looking in with 81 points, beat the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1.
It's a trend that has been happening for a while now.
On Saturday, all three playoff hopefuls each picked up two points. The previous game, all three teams lost. Going back to Jan. 30, the standings have essentially been at a standstill.
That's seven weeks of no separation. But with one month remaining until the end of the season, don't expect it to stay that way for long.
"It's fun," said Islanders left winger Mathew Barzal following Tuesday's win against Toronto. "That's the best part of this time of year. Every game just means a little more. This is what you play for."
If you think the Metro is tight, jut take a look at what's going on in the Atlantic, where only four points separate the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning from the fifth-place Boston Bruins.
The Pacific is even jammed, with one point separating the top three teams in the division, while only two points separate the four teams – Seattle, Los Angeles, San Jose and Nashville – are jockeying for the final wild-card spot.
It's what makes the stretch run so much fun.
Certainly, it's put a smile on Brayden Schenn's face — while also causing his heart to race a little.
Prior to being traded to the Islanders, Schenn was the captain of a St. Louis Blues team that had nothing to play for except a draft lottery pick. Now, he's in the thick of a playoff hunt for a team that is clinging to a playoff spot.
"It's an adrenaline rush," said Schenn, who picked up his first goal with the Islanders on Tuesday. "Just with getting traded and being in a playoff hunt with the guys, you have to come in here and do a job. This is what you play hockey for. You want to be in these playoff pushes."
In some ways, the pressure of winning every night is the ideal situation for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations. While no one would turn down the added security of locking up a playoff spot early, having to go on a heater beats the alternative of backing into the post-season.
Whatever you do, don't look down. Or at the standings, for that matter.
"The way you get to the playoffs or the way you've got momentum getting into the playoffs is worrying about yourself," said Schenn, who won a Stanley Cup in 2019 on a Blues team that went on a 30-10-5 run to finish the season. "If you worry about yourself and you do your job, things will take care of themselves.
"Obviously, everyone is scoreboard watching at this time of year. I'm not saying we're not. But you have to go into nights or games not hoping those teams are going to lose, you just have worry about getting two points."
Islanders coach Patrick Roy said he doesn't scoreboard watch. But if it did, he'd see that every night it seems like the teams battling the Islanders for a playoff spot are winning. Then again, the coaches for Pittsburgh and Columbus might be seeing something similar out of the Islanders, which have gone 7-3-0 in their last 10 games.
"They see us winning every night, too," said Roy. "That's the way it is, isn't it? I mean, everybody wants to be part of the playoffs. We know it's going to be hard-fought until the end of the season, but you know what, we're going to focus one game at a time, and not we're going to go more than that.
"We had a good game tonight. We beat the Leafs, and we're going in Ottawa (which is only five points back of the final wild-card spot in the East) for the next game, and we're going to focus on being ready for Ottawa."
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.