I think Islanders are the dark horse of the East this season.
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BrockLobster
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Rehabguy
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The other teams may have games on hand. The Isles have Sorokin. That will be the difference.
That could definitely be true....PIT has 5 games in hand but they have serious issues in net.
I was gonna bump this thread and say "darkhorse for Bedard sweepstakes maybe"... Then they got Hovart and are back in the playoffs.
They had Sorokin all year lol. They’ve played 5 more games than Pitt and Detroit. 6 more games than Buffalo. That’s 10 and 12 available points. It will take a miracle for NYI to get in.
Rehabguy
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Do you believe in miracles? Those teams still have to win those games. The Isles will lock in a playoff spot this year. It’s not a question of if but when.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
You may very well turn out to be right, but this level of confidence is odd given their recent play is no better than the teams right behind them with a ton of games in hand.
Rehabguy
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Well I’m not so worried about their standings more concerned about how they are playing. Horvat has been a huge boost for the Isles PP and offense in general. Even without Barzal, Pageau, Bailey, and Clutterbuck in the lineup the team still plays a good game. Right now playing playoff style hockey against other teams desperate to make the playoffs or improve their positioning and the Isles are playing like a playoff team which is their strength and they are winning. They have only 3 and 7 wins less than the Rangers and Devils even after playing a few more games. The division is tight. If they play at this level. They will continue to hold their playoff spot.
The Sabres just got hammered by Toronto. The Pens just lost back to back against the Isles and the Caps haven’t won a game since as far back as I can remember.
Also Martin has brought back some identity back to the “identity” line and his physical play has such a huge impact on the team. They disappeared for most of this season but I think that had a lot to do with the protracted injuries to Clutterbuck. When the 4th line is hitting the team seems to feed off of that. They give the team it’s identity. Hard to not notice when Martin is leading on the ice the Isles play a much better game.
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tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
That's exactly what I'm saying, though. They're 6-2-2 in their last 10.
Florida is 3 points behind them with a game in hand, 6-4-0 in their last 10.
Detroit is 5 points behind them with 5 games in hand, 7-3-0 in their last 10.
Even Ottawa, a whole 9 points behind them, still has 5 games in hand and 7-2-1 in their last 10.
Again it's totally possible the Isles keep this up, and the TDL will change the picture quite a bit. But as things stand right now, Isles aren't making gains on these teams. They're just holding serve while waiting for the games-played column to catch up.
Rehabguy
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It will depend a lot on the remaining schedule. The Isles play their best under pressure and against better teams for the most part and they have Sorokin. They also will face these fellow competing teams and will play playoff style hockey for the remainder of the year. I think they have a better chance than these other teams that don’t know what they are up against. The Isles don’t need to make gains on these teams. They just have to stay ahead of them and those teams will implode against the better teams under pressure.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
Indeed, the head to heads are going to be HUGE with those 4 point swings. Not just the Isles games but also the ones between the other teams. That’s where a lot of these games in hand are going to disappear, so it matters a lot how they play out. Lots of scoreboard watching to come in March and April.
Rehabguy
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Speaking of which my brother just texted me free club tickets to tonight’s Lightning versus Buffalo game with free parking passes as well. Cool! I’ll be there with my Isles Jersey waiving a Bolts flag. Screw Buffalo!
Kaapo Cabana
Next name: Admiral Kakkbar
Yea no.
Lottery team without sorokin.
If they’re lucky enough to make it which is dicey at best, they will be exposed by a gauntlet of an eastern conference
Lottery team without sorokin.
If they’re lucky enough to make it which is dicey at best, they will be exposed by a gauntlet of an eastern conference
Losing Barzal for a few weeks is gonna hurt a bit for sure.
That week from March 4-11 is huge: vs Wings, Sabers, Caps, @ Pens
LickTheEnvelope
Weird time to be a Canucks fan 2024
They will go as far as Sorokin can get them. I'm not convinced they push out all the teams they are fighting with for a spot but they have a chance.
In past years the Isles have been on the other end of the "games-in-hand" statistic, and I echo what others have said, games-in-hand look good on paper but you still need to win those games, and evidently its a lot harder in real life than penciling in points while looking at the standings from behind a computer. Many of those games-in-hand are amongst the teams fighting for the last two wild card spots so points are already guaranteed off the table in some respect. The head-to-head matchups of the teams fighting for these spots is immensely more important than extra games to play against teams you aren't competing with for those spots - i.e. Buffalo can win 5 of 6 of their games in hand on the Isles, but if Buffalo loses their 2 remaining games against the Isles they are still looking up at them in the standings. The teams that can win consistently within conference and within division from here on out will win the battle. Picking up a couple of games-in-hand wins against some West coast teams isn't going to move the needle with a race this close and so many teams in striking distance.
It's really down, imo, to Detroit vs. Florida, vs. NYI, and imo it's pretty much a dead heat at this point for #8. Pittsburgh will likely pass the lot. As a NYI fan, I worry far less about the other teams, games on hand, etc. than I do about NYIs issues at forward, not to mention the serious injury issues.
NYI are running out Matt Martin on the 1st line, replacement level wingers on the 3rd line (along with our 4th line center), and total liabilities on the 4th line (Ross Johnston, Otto Koivula). It's not pretty. It's gonna be pretty difficult to imagine NYI can keep it up over a decent stretch without at least Pageau coming back healthy.
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
I watched a good part of last night’s game and thought it was odd they had Martin on the PP. I guess it’s not so much of a choice as a necessity at this point.
Lots of big games coming up. No easy opponent until Anaheim Ducks March 14th.
-Kings (playoff team)
-Jets (playoff team)
-Wild (wildcard competitor in West)
-Red Wings (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Sabres (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Penguins (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Capitals (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Kings (playoff team)
The games against the Red Wings, Sabres, Penguins, and Capitals can really set the tone in the standings down the stretch.
-Kings (playoff team)
-Jets (playoff team)
-Wild (wildcard competitor in West)
-Red Wings (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Sabres (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Penguins (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Capitals (wildcard competitor for Islanders)
-Kings (playoff team)
The games against the Red Wings, Sabres, Penguins, and Capitals can really set the tone in the standings down the stretch.
Rehabguy
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He’s been used in the past to screen goaltender’s injuries or not, but it’s not a common occurrence.
Rehabguy
In ROY I trust
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I love that schedule. They seem to do better against the better teams and suck against the teams that have nothing to lose. This is a good schedule for the Isles. Both teams will be under pressure but I like the Isles chances in pressure situations and puts the Islanders fate in their own hands. The Isles are 7-2-2 in the past 11 games and a few of those they were not playing their best. They are in a good place right now injuries nonetheless.
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