Featured Post

Permutations and Combinations - NHL Draft Lottery

Do you remember this from last year?  What's 14 x 13 x 12 x 11? It's 24,024. ...

Friday, March 27, 2026

The Skinny on the Playoff Chase

For the second time in three days, the Sabres played at home in the only meaningful game in the Eastern Conference playoff rate, and once again they came up short - losing 5-2 to Detroit in Western NY.

The Red Wings win moves them within one point of the Isles, and ties Ottawa for 9th place.

The Playoff Chase

1.      (1st Metro)  Carolina 96 points (32 RW) in 71 games

2.      (1st Atlantic) Buffalo 96 (37 RW) in 73

3.      (2nd Atlantic) Tampa Bay 94 (35 RW) in 71

4.      (3rd Atlantic) Montreal 90 (28 RW) in 71

5.      (1st WC) Boston 88 (29 RW,37 ROW) in 72

6.      (2nd Metro) Pittsburgh 88 (29 RW,33 ROW) in 72

7.      (3rd Metro) Columbus 87 (27 RW) in 72

8.      (2nd WC/4th Metro) ISLES 87 (27 RW) in 73

----------

9.      (3rd WC) Ottawa 86 (32 RW) in 72

10.   (4th WC) Detroit 86 (28 RW) in 72

11.   (5th WC) Philadelphia 82 (22 RW) in 71

12.   (6th WC) Washington 81 (31 RW) in 73

Friday's Results:

DET 5 @BUF 2

Upcoming Games:

Sat: 

FLA@NYI

SEA@BUF

OTT@TB

MTL@NSH 

NJ@CAR 

DAL@PIT 

SJ@CBJ

MIN@BOS  

PHI@DET

WAS@VGK

There are two early games on the schedule, both at 1pm ET, as the Isles host Florida and Ottawa faces Tampa Bay. 

An Islander win and they'll skate off in 2nd place in the Metro, an OT/SO loss will leave them 3rd in the Metro, but a regulation loss could push them to the outside even before the other games are played.

Isles have struggled in matinees (2-6-2) - let's see if they can get a win against the Stanley Cup champs, whose reign is near an end; Florida's tragic number is down to 9.

The Skinny: Isles 2, Dallas 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

Wednesday, March 25, 2026

The Skinny on the Playoff Chase

 It looked like the Bruins were going to get no points in Buffalo tonight, instead a tying goal at 14:00 and a Pavel Zacha overtime winner pushes Boston three points ahead of the Isles in the only game Wednesday that affected the playoff race:

The Playoff Chase

1.      (1st Metro)  Carolina 96 points (32 RW) in 71 games

2.      (1st Atlantic) Buffalo 96 (37 RW) in 72

3.      (2nd Atlantic) Tampa Bay 93 (35 RW) in 70

4.      (3rd Atlantic) Montreal 88 (27 RW) in 70

5.      (1st WC) Boston 88 (29 RW,37 ROW) in 72

6.    (2nd Metro) Columbus 87 (27 RW) in 71

7.      (3rd Metro) Pittsburgh 86 (29 RW,33 ROW) in 71

8.      (2nd WC) Ottawa 85 (32 RW) in 71

----------

9.      (3rd WC/4th Metro) ISLES 85 (26 RW) in 72

10.   (4th WC) Detroit 84 (27 RW) in 71

11.   (5th WC) Philadelphia 80 (21 RW) in 70

12.   (6th WC) Washington 79 (30 RW) in 72

 

Wednesday's Result:

BOS 4 @BUF 3 (OT)


Upcoming Games:

Thu: DAL@NYI, SEA@TB, CBJ@MTL, PIT@OTT, CHI@PHI, WAS@UTA

Fri: DET@BUF

Sat: FLA@NYI, SEA@BUF, OTT@TB, MTL@NSH, NJ@CAR, DAL@PIT, SJ@CBJ, MIN@BOS,  PHI@DET, WAS@VGK


The Skinny: Chicago 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

Monday, March 23, 2026

The Skinny on the Playoff Chase

Only one game in the NHL on Monday as Ottawa beats the Rangers for their third straight win and to get to 83 points.  Ottawa plays Detroit on Tuesday, so the Isles will need at least a point (and maybe two) on Tuesday against Chicago to stay in a playoff spot.

The Playoff Chase

1.      (1st Metro)  Carolina 96 points (32 RW) in 70 games

2.      (1st Atlantic) Buffalo 95 (37 RW) in 71

3.      (2nd Atlantic) Tampa Bay 91 (34 RW) in 69

4.      (3rd Atlantic) Montreal 86 (26 RW) in 69

5.      (1st WC) Boston 86 (29 RW,36 ROW) in 70

6.      (2nd Metro) Pittsburgh 86 (29 RW,33 ROW) in 70

7.      (3rd Metro) Columbus 85 (26 RW) in 70

8.      (3rd WC/4th Metro) ISLES 85 (26 RW) in 71

----------

9.      (2nd WC) Detroit 84 (27 RW) in 70

10.   (4th WC) Ottawa 83 (31 RW) in 70

11.   (5th WC) Philadelphia 80 (21 RW) in 69

12.   (6th WC) Washington 79 (30 RW) in 71

 

Monday’s  Results:

            OTT 2 @NYR 1

   Upcoming Games:

Tue: CHI @NYI, MIN@TB, CAR@MTL,COL@PIT,CBJ@PHI,TOR@BOS, OTT@DET, WAS@STL

Wed: BOS@BUF

Thu: DAL@NYI, SEA@TB, CBJ@MTL, PIT@OTT, CHI@PHI, WAS@UTA

Fri: DET@BUF

The Skinny: Isles 1, Columbus 0



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