A coaching change couldn't save the Islanders. Their playoff hopes vanish as they prepare to face the Maple Leafs on Thursday, officially out of contention.
On Sunday morning, the New York Islanders (89 points) fired Patrick Roy despite holding onto the third seed in the Metropolitan Division.
But by Sunday afternoon, Pete DeBoer's new squad lost its spot to the Philadelphia Flyers (89 points, one game in hand), who beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 in overtime. That moved the Islanders to the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
That result also guaranteed that the Islanders will be on the outside looking in when they return to play on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Ottawa Senators (90 points) beat the Hurricanes, so the Islanders are now a point out of a wild-card spot.
We will see just how far out of a playoff spot the Islanders are when Toronto comes to town for a 7 PM showdown on Thursday.