Pushed to the brink

The Islanders' loss on Tuesday night has pushed them to the precipice of elimination from the playoffs.

They can be eliminated as early as tomorrow night, unless they beat the Flyers for the first time in 16 tries.

If the Isles:
Beat Philly- they can not be eliminated on Thursday
Lose in OT/SO- they are eliminated if Montreal earns a point vs Carolina tonight and Boston beats Florida on Thursday
Lose in regulation- they are eliminated if Boston earns a point vs Florida

The Isles have six games to play; if they earn no more than seven point in those games, they are guaranteed to finish in the bottom eight, with bottom six appearing quite likely.

While Edmonton has locked up the worst record in the league, five Eastern Conference teams, including the Islanders, are separated by only four points for 25th-29th.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick