The Islanders will be making up their games in hand this week and could be in a playoff spot by Friday.
The Islanders will be making up their games in hand this week and could be in a playoff spot by Friday.
After falling 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night, the New York Islanders missed out on a glorious opportunity to inch closer to a playoff spot.
The second wild-card Philadelphia Flyers fell 5-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks, the third-place Washington Capitals lost 4-3 in a shootout to the Boston Bruins, and the wild-card hopeful Detroit Red Wings lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Florida Panthers.
It's now games-in-hand week for the Islanders.
On Monday, the Islanders will battle the Flyers, who are five points ahead of them but have played two more games and are currently riding a four-game losing streak.
If the Islanders can beat them at Wells Fargo Center, they will be three points back, still with two games in hand.
After Monday, the Flyers don't play again until Friday, while the Islanders will get their games in, battling the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday before the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday.
Those opponents are both at the bottom of the NHL standings, and a loss to either team would be catastrophic at this juncture of the season.
If the Islanders can combine a win over the Flyers with wins over those two teams, they'd be a point ahead of the Flyers by Friday morning.
The Red Wings, who are three points up on the Islanders with a game in hand — also losers of four straight — are in action on Monday, battling the red-hot Lightning. They won't play again until Friday night against the Metropolitan Divison-leading New York Rangers.
By Friday, the Islanders will have played one more game than Detroit but could be three points ahead if things go right.