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Monday, April 06, 2026

The Skinny on the Playoff Chase

In the only game on Monday, the Sabres tied Tampa Bay for the Atlantic Division lead in both points and Regulation Wins with a 4-2 win in Buffalo.  Tampa Bay maintains first place because they have a game-in-hand.  The Bolts will play that extra game in Ottawa tomorrow.

 The Standings:

1.      x(1st Metro)  Carolina 104 points (36 RW) in 77 games

2.      x (1st Atlantic) Tampa Bay 102 (39 RW, 44 ROW) in 76

3.      x (2nd Atlantic) Buffalo 102 (39 RW, 41 ROW) in 77

4.      x(3rd Atlantic) Montreal 100 (32 RW) in 77

5.      (2nd Metro) Pittsburgh 96 (33 RW) in 78

6.      (1st WC) Boston 95 (31 RW) in 78

7.      (2nd WC) Ottawa 90 (34 RW) in 77

8.      (3rd Metro) Philadelphia 90 (24 RW) in 77

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9.      (3th WC/4th Metro) ISLES 89 (28 RW, 38 ROW) in 78

10.   (4th WC) Detroit 88 (29 RW, 38 ROW) in 77

11.   (5th WC) Columbus 88 (27 RW, 32 ROW) in 77

12.   (6th WC) Washington 87 (33 RW, 37 ROW) in 78

 

Monday’s Results

TB 2 @BUF4


Upcoming Games

Tue 4/7:  TB@OTT, FLA@MTL, BOS@CAR,CBJ@DET, PHI@NJ

Wed 4/8: BUF@NYR, WAS@TOR

Thu 4/9: TOR@NYI, CBJ@BUF, TB@MTL, CAR@CHI, PIT@NJ, FLA@OTT, PHI@DET

Fri 4/10: No Games in Chase

The Isles will fall behind Detroit, Columbus, or possibly both when those two teams play on Tuesday.  When Tuesday's games end, the Isles will know whether they are 10th or 11th in the East - and 4th or 5th in the Metro, as well as how may points out of a playoff spot they are (either 1, 2, or 3). Those positions won't change on Wednesday.

Sunday, April 05, 2026

The Skinny on the Coaching Change and The Playoff Chase

 It wasn't Epic in the sense of Pat LaFontaine's goal early Easter Morning in 1987, or Wade Dubielewicz' poke check to get the Isles into the playoffs in 2007, but it was consequential nevertheless, as the Isles replaced Patrick Roy as Head Coach with veteran coach Pete DeBoer.

DeBoer looks to turn around an Islander team that had lost four straight games for the first time in over a year and found themselves on the precipice of falling out of a playoff spot. 

Within the first eight hours of DeBoer's tenure, and on the first of four consecutive Islander days off, they did just that, as Philadelphia knocked the Isles out of third in the Metro and Ottawa then knocked them out of the second Wild Card spot.  The news was not all bad though as Detroit suffered a late loss to Minnesota and Washington got blown out at Madison Square Garden.

The Standings:

1.      x(1st Metro)  Carolina 104 points (36 RW) in 77 games

2.      x (1st Atlantic) Tampa Bay 102 (39 RW) in 76

3.      x (2nd Atlantic) Buffalo 100 (38 RW) in 77

4.      x(3rd Atlantic) Montreal 100 (32 RW) in 77

5.      (2nd Metro) Pittsburgh 96 (33 RW) in 78

6.      (1st WC) Boston 95 (31 RW) in 78

7.      (2nd WC) Ottawa 90 (34 RW) in 77

8.      (3rd Metro) Philadelphia 90 (24 RW) in 77

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9.      (3th WC/4th Metro) ISLES 89 (28 RW, 38 ROW) in 78

10.   (4th WC) Detroit 88 (29 RW, 38 ROW) in 77

11.   (5th WC) Columbus 88 (27 RW, 32 ROW) in 77

12.   (6th WC) Washington 87 (33 RW, 37 ROW) in 78

 

Sunday’s Results

MIN 5 @DET 4

FLA 2 @PIT 5

           BOS 1 @PHI 2 (OT)

           CAR 3 @OTT 6

           NJ 3 @MTL 0

           WAS1 @NYR 8


Upcoming Games

Mon 4/6: TB@BUF

Tue 4/7:  TB@OTT, FLA@MTL, BOS@CAR,CBJ@DET, PHI@NJ

Wed 4/8: BUF@NYR, WAS@TOR

Thu 4/9: TOR@NYI, CBJ@BUF, TB@MTL, CAR@CHI, PIT@NJ, FLA@OTT, PHI@DET

Fri 4/10: No Games in Chase

Tomorrow's game will not impact the Isles but the Isles will fall behind Detroit, Columbus, or possibly both when those two teams play on Tuesday.

The Coaching Change

The Isles are 5-1-0 in the first game after a mid-season coaching change since Bill Stewart replaced Mike Milbury in 1999. The Isles are 8-9-2 in the first game for their new coach and are 9-11-2 in first games when you include multiple stints for Al Arbour, Lorne Henning, and Milbury.

DeBoer will be the first Islander coach to debut against the Leafs since Earl Ingarfield, Sr. became the second coach in Islander history, débuting January 31, 1973.

The New Coach

Pete De Boer is 662-447-152 in 1261 regular season, and 97-82 in the playoffs.  He has won a playoff series in each of his last seven trips to the Stanley Cup playoffs, and has made the Western Conference Final six times in the last eight seasons.  He will now coach in the NHL for the 18th consecutive season.

DeBoer will tie Jacques Lemaire for 21st place in games coached on Thursday and is 18th in career wins (two behind Todd McLellan).

DeBoer is 7th in playoff games coached, three behind Darryl Sutter and four behind Pat Quinn. Joel Quenneville (225) is the only active coach with more games.  His 97 wins are fifth all-time, and three behind Dick Irvin.

The Old Coach

Patrick Roy leaves the Isles with a record of 97-78-22 in 197 games.  He has coached 443 career games.

Class of 97

The Isles replaced a coach who won 97 games for them with a coach who has 97 playoff wins.

Saturday, April 04, 2026

The Skinny: Carolina 4, Isles 3



Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

The Skinny: Philadelphia 4, Isles 1



Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

Thursday, April 02, 2026

The Skinny on the Playoff Chase

 It was a fairly decent off night for the Isles in the Metro race as Pittsburgh, Columbus, Philadelphia and Washington all lost in regulation. 

However, Ottawa moved into a playoff spot, and Detroit's win in Philly created a 3-way tie at 88 points.

Isles can take a three point lead in the playoff race with a home-ice win on Friday night 

The Playoff Chase

1.      (1st Metro)  Carolina 102 points (35 RW) in 75 games

2.      (1st Atlantic) Tampa Bay 100 (38 RW) in 75

3.      (2nd Atlantic) Buffalo 100 (38 RW) in 76

4.      (3rd Atlantic) Montreal 98 (32 RW) in 75

5.      (1st WC) Boston 94 (31 RW) in 76

6.      (2nd Metro) Pittsburgh 92 (31 RW) in 76

7.      (3rd Metro) ISLES 89 (28 RW) in 76

8.      (2nd WC) Ottawa 88 (33 RW) in 75

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9.   (3rd WC) Detroit 88 (29 RW) in 75

10.    (4th WC/4th Metro) Columbus 88 (27 RW) in 76

11.   (5th WC) Philadelphia 86 (23 RW) in 75

12.   (6th WC) Washington 85 (32 RW) in 76

 

Thursday’s Results

BUF 1 @OTT 4

PIT 3 @TB 6

BOS 1 @FLA 2

MTL 3 @NYR 2

DET 4@PHI 2

CBJ 1 @CAR 5

WSH 3@NJD 7

 

Upcoming Games

Fri 4/3: PHI@NYI

Sat 4/4: NYI@CAR, DET@NYR,MIN@OTT,BOS@TB,FLA@PIT,MTL@NJ,BUF@WAS, WPG@CBJ

Sun 4/5: MIN@DET,FLA@PIT, BOS@PHI, CAR@OTT, NJ@MTL, WAS@NYR

Mon 4/6: TB@BUF

Tue 4/7:  TB@OTT, FLA@MTL, BOS@CAR,CBJ@DET, PHI@NJ

Wed 4/8: BUF@NYR, WAS@TOR

Thu 4/9: TOR@NYI, CBJ@BUF, TB@MTL. CAR@CHI. PIT@NJ, FLA@OTT, PHI@DET

Fri 4/10: No Games in Chase