The Islanders had a win and a loss in their final two games of the season. Their loss against the Capitals to start the week nearly ruined their playoff chances. However, thanks to a Penguins loss against the Blackhawks, they still clinched with a win over the Canadiens. They finish the season in the wild card one spot and will take on the Hurricanes in the first round.
Horrendous Start Dooms Islanders Against the Capitals
The Islanders traveled to Washington to face the Capitals in a highly important game in regards to their playoff aspirations. They received some encouraging news early as the Capitals would only be playing with 17 forwards and several key players out of the game. But that would be the last of the good news for the Islanders in this game. It took just 36 seconds for Dylan Strome to score from the circle off of a turnover. The hits would keep on coming as barely a minute later as Rasmus Sandin launched a deep shot from an angle that beat Sorokin. Just as the Islanders were settling things down in the first they got burned again.
Ryan Pulock lost his stick trying to keep up with Joe Snively breaking into the offensive zone. Adam Pelech then tripped on that stick, giving Martin Fehervary the chance to beat him to the loose puck and set up Craig Smith for a goal. Things got late early as the Isles found themselves down three goals. Making matters worse was Darcy Kuemper shutting down numerous good looks from the Islanders.
Still down 3-0, Hudson Fasching finally got them on the board late in the third period by cleaning up a rebounded puck in front of Kuemper. With the net empty, the Islanders couldn’t generate a chance and Tom Wilson scored an empty netter. However, with the net empty again, Bo Horvat hit Casey Cizikas with a good pass and scored to make it a 4-2 game. The Isles put together one more attack with the net empty but were unsuccessful. Strome scored his second of the game to send the Islanders home with a brutal 5-2 loss.
Islanders Clinch Playoffs With Win Over Canadiens
After all hope seemed to be lost on Monday, the Blackhawks gave the Islanders one last mulligan. They defeated the Penguins on Tuesday which, in turn, gave the Isles a chance to clinch in their regular season finale. Playing one of the East’s weakest teams in the Canadiens in front of an excited home crowd, they had a tremendous opportunity in front of them. Brock Nelson buried a strong wrister from the circle to get the Isles going in the first. The Candiens tied it back up at the 17:38 mark when Rem Pitlick beat Sorokin with a big slap shot.
With a tie game, the Islanders would take control in the second period. Fasching flicked in a loose puck in front of the net to get the lead back. Nelson would then score his second of the game on a tipped shot to give the Islanders a 3-1 lead. Seemingly on the right track, a disastrous power play chance would result in Nick Suzuki beating Samuel Bolduc to a cleared puck and scoring on his backhand.
With a one goal lead, the Islanders stuck to their dominant third period defensive gameplan that has served them so well over this stretch run. To top things off, Anders Lee got a piece of a shot from Sebastian Aho to score a power play goal. The eventual 4-2 win would clinch the Islanders a spot in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Takeaway
What a rollercoaster of a final week this was for the Islanders. After an embarrassing loss to the Capitals, it seemed as though they would fall just short of the playoffs. But the Penguins followed that up with an even more embarrassing loss (thanks Blackhawks!) that set up Wednesday’s clinching opportunity. It wasn’t pretty, not by a long shot. But the Islanders did exactly what they had to do in order to get back into the playoffs.
They’ll now take on the Hurricanes in their first round series. It won’t be an easy matchup as the Islanders have lost three straight games against them. But if 2020 and 2021 taught us anything, it’s that the playoffs are a different animal. It’s time to see if this core is capable of surprising the NHL and going on another deep playoff run.
3 Stars of the Week
1. Brock Nelson (2 goals against the Canadiens)
2. Hudson Fasching (2 goals)
3. Noah Dobson (3 assists)
Credits
Featured image courtesy of Twitter/@NYIslanders
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