New York Islanders playoff picture: Do they still have a shot at making the playoffs after their 5-2 loss to the Rangers?

By Ryan Gagne

Modified Mar 18, 2024 16:30 GMT

On Sunday afternoon on Broadway, the New York Islanders watched two valuable points slip away in a crushing 5-2 defeat at the hands of their cross-town rivals, the New York Rangers.

Heading into the matinee, the Islanders had a chance to leapfrog the Detroit Red Wings back into the second wildcard spot, but by the end of the night, both teams lost and remained a point apart, with Detroit sitting in a playoff position.

Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals have won their past two games, are now tied with New York with 73 points, and are ahead of them based on percentage points.

However, that wasn't the worst news of the day, as the Pittsburgh Penguins picked up a win and climbed to 69 points, raising the stakes slightly higher for the four teams chasing one playoff spot.

Unfortunately for the Islanders, they have to face the Rangers two more times before the end of the season and have yet to beat them, earning a 0-1-1 record in the two previous meetings, getting outscored 11-7.

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Do the Islanders still have a shot at making the playoffs after their latest loss?

After Sunday, the Islanders have 15 games left, including a problematic contest on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are chasing the Rangers for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, so they will bring their best effort against a New York team that hasn't won in four games.

Heading into the NHL trade deadline (March 8), the Islanders were on a six-game win streak and didn't make any moves to improve their lineup. Since defeating the Anaheim Ducks, they have been shut out in back-to-back games and have given up nine goals in their last two.

Head Coach Patrick Roy at the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series

Throughout the remainder of their schedule, it appears New York will only have two favorable spots left: games against the Chicago Blackhawks (April 2) and Columbus Blue Jackets (April 4), followed by matchups against the New Jersey Devils (April 15), and the Penguins in the April 17 finale.

Between now and then, they will face some of the best teams in the NHL, including the Winnipeg Jets, Florida Panthers and Rangers twice. It won't be smooth sailing, but if they can recapture the magic of their recent six-game win streak, they may stay in and win the wildcard race.

Who needs to step up to get New York into the playoffs?

In the past five games, All-Star Mathew Barzal has had three assists, raising his season total to 69 points, the second-highest total of his career. However, he's also minus five. Surprisingly, he is one of 15 players with a negative plus/minus rating.

New York has an all-world goalie in Ilya Sorokin (22-16-11), with a subpar .908 save percentage and 3.03 goals-against average based on career averages. Although the team has Noah Dobson (65 points) on the backend, Sorokin has seen the most shots (1,603) and made (1,457) the most saves in the NHL.

Instead of contending for the Vezina Trophy, finishing as a runner-up in 2022-23, he's battling every night to keep the puck out of the net, with little to no help from the players in front of him.

Even though we could list each player and areas of their game that need improvement, the team must work together to score the necessary points to clinch a playoff spot.

If they advance, are they built strong enough to win a playoff series or bow out in a few games like last season? If they qualify as the bottom wildcard team, they would likely face the Panthers or Boston Bruins, against whom they have earned a 2-3 record this year.

Ultimately, Islanders fans should brace themselves for a year without postseason action, instead turning their attention to the offseason when, hopefully, management tweaks the lineup to return to contender status.