Forever now it has been 8 teams set for the playoffs in the east….but as April hits, one team is doing EVERYTHING possible to pull off a miracle.
March 1, 17 points. February 1, 22 points April 3, 11 points with 1 game in hand.
Islanders Path to the Playoffs…
* The Islanders now sit 11 points out with one game in hand on the Caps * Win that game and the deficit is 9 points with the Caps and Isles EVEN in games. * Games 80 and 81 on the Isles schedule are against the Washington Capitalss. * Win both of those games and the Isles deficit is only 5 points. * In the other 11 games a pieced that both the Caps and Islanders play the Isles need three more wins than the Capitals and they are in the playoffs…
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— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) January 5, 2021
Remaining games For the Islanders: 8 Road, 5 Home
@Dallas @Carolina @ St Louis Pittsburgh @ Pittsburgh @Montreal @Toronto Florida NY Rangers @Buffalo Carolina @Washington Washington Tampa
Remaining Games for Capitals: 8 Home 4 Road
Tampa @Pittsburgh @Philadelphia Toronto Montreal Colorado Vegas Arizona @Toronto @NY Islanders NY Islanders NY Rangers
Looking at the schedules two things stick out.
The Islanders play 6 of their next 7 on the road. The Capitals play 7 of their last 9 games at home.
That doesn’t look to favor the Isles, but the Islanders this season have been a better road team than people think.
Impossible Task? Not really.
The Islanders have a tough road to haul here. There is no denying the fact that to come all the way back and make the playoffsIt would be miraculous…On February 1st they were 22 points out. On April 4th they have halved that deficit to 11 and still have a game in hand.
Looking at the top 5 teams in the Metro’s winning percentage since February 1…
#1 NY Islanders 580 #2 NY Rangers 555 #3 Carolina 548 #4 Washington 543 #5 Pittsburgh 541
So for the last two months the Isles have been the best team in the Metro…
But can they catch the Caps?
Lets assume The Isles can win their game in hand and beat the Caps twice in regulation.
If over their last 11 games the Caps and Isles were to continue their pace over the last two months…
The Isles would end with 92 points The Capitals would end with 95 points.
So the Isles have to be better than 580 the rest of the way.
To make up the other 3 points if the Caps continue to play 543 hockey the Isles would have to play 700 hockey. That sounds crazy?
Not really…Basically the Isles in those final 11 games they would need to get 15 of possible 22 points….they would need to go 7-3-1 in those 11 if the Caps continue to play 543 hockey.
A lot of “ifs…
For sure. The point is ALOT has to break right here, but if the Isles can make the playoffs they could be the best team in the Metro division when they do…..
Time will tell, but considering the terrible road trip and all the COVID games missed it is not hard to see why Lou Lamoriello still sees hope moving forward with this team..