The New York Islanders have again received tremendous help in the standings on an action-packed Tuesday night of hockey.

The Montreal Canadiens, who hold down the second wild-card spot, one point better than the Islanders, suffered a 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. 

The Ottawa Senators, who hold the top wild-card spot with a five-point lead on the Islanders,  lost 3-2 to the Buffalo Sabres.

The Rangers, who are tied with the Islanders in points, lost 3-1 to the Los Angeles Kings and have played two more games than Long Island.

The Detroit Red Wings remain two points back of the Islanders after falling 5-2 to Brock Nelson and the Colorado Avalanche.

The New York Islanders will now enter Wednesday night’s contest against the Vancouver Canucks with the ability to leapfrog the Montreal Canadiens with a win to get themselves into a playoff spot for the first time in quite awhile. 

The Islanders have the same number of games played as the Ottawa Senators, Canadiens, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, so continuing to gain points is massive.

The Islanders have 12 games left, leaving little margin for error, with their playoff chances coming down to the wire for the third straight season.

We will see once again if the Islanders can crawl themselves back into the playoffs when it seemed like all hope was lost just a few weeks ago..

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Joe LaChase contributed to this story.