As the 2025-26 NHL regular season and the Eastern Conference playoff push winds down, there are teams that have seized the moment and strung wins together like the Penguins, Flyers and Senators, and there are teams that have spiraled out of previously promising positions to leave an empty feeling like the Red Wings and Islanders.
The Red Wings were officially eliminated last night, coughing up multiple leads against the Devils in front of a quiet home crowd that turned into a minutes-long chorus of boos as Detroit officially reached a decade without a playoff appearance. Will the Islanders earn such a reaction? It probably depends on their effort over the next two games, but they’ve done themselves no favors.
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Columbus (92 pts.) is still in the picture, interrupting their tailspin with a win over the Canadiens last night. The Flyers (94 pts.) put pressure on everyone by convincingly destroying the Jets in Winnipeg. The Islanders (91 pts.) and Capitals (91 pts.) still have outside chances, but only if everything goes right for them and everything wrong for Philadelphia and Columbus.
The Isles’ foe tonight is the Canadiens, who were beaten by the Blue Jackets at home last night but still have a chance to secure home ice advantage or even a division-winning seed.
First Islanders Goal picks go here.
Islanders News
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Takeaways: Special teams, of course, which DeBoer noted. Also: “It doesn’t feel great right now, but we’re still alive. We have to win our last two games.” [Isles]
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Previewing tonight: here come the Habs. [Isles]
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The Islanders created a special night for Cole, the younger brother of Connor Kasin, the varsity hockey player who lost his life during a charity game in 2024. [Post]
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Denver University won its 11th NCAA championship, topping Wisconsin and Isles prospect Quinn Finley. [NHL]
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Elsewhere
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The Habs will be without Noah Dobson, who left yesterday’s game with a thumb injury “caused by blocking his NHL-leading 188th shot.” Re-evaluated in two weeks, so that is brutal timing for them. [Sportsnet]
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Jared Bednar took a puck to the face and had to go the hospital. [TSN]
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That NCAA UFA and Hobey Baker finalist TJ Hughes who was “linked” to the Isles? He is now inked with the Avs. [TSN]
Before a bell similarly tolls for the Islanders, here’s some Red Wings Collapse Porn:
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“If something can be unacceptable and predictable at the same time, this was it. It happened again, in the same ridiculous manner with the same ridiculous mistakes.” [Detroit News]
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Todd MacLellan: “I don’t even know if they want a Stanley Cup Championship anymore. They just want a team that’s going to come in and give them something to cheer about.” [Athletic]
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“When it mattered most, they looked lackadaisical. It is one thing to lose on skill, but what excuse is there for being outworked, again and again?“ [Detroit Free Press]
With a better showing over the final two games, the Islanders can avoid some of those condemnations — and they’re in year 1 of a new regime, with a new coach, so it’s not the same as what’s happening in Detroit. But still, the position they were in, the additions that were made to theoretically reinforce the effort, it’s all going to bring up some core questions if/when they fall short.
