Not only do we need to catch the pens, but we'll also need to stave off the sabres and red wings for the privilege of facing Boston in the first round. There are 21 games until the deadline. In order to not be sellers, the islanders will probably need to take down 8 of these 11 games:
1/14 Montreal
1/16 Washington
1/19 Buffalo (second game of back to back)
1/25 Ottawa
1/27 Detroit
2/6 Philadelphia
2/9 Vancouver
2/11 Montreal
2/14 Ottawa
2/17 Pittsburgh
2/20 Pittsburgh
The other 10 are against Boston (2x), Winnipeg (2x) Carolina, Toronto, Vegas, Seattle, Minnesota and Los Angeles - all of those are playoff teams, and half are against division leaders. Still would need to win half of these to be able to come out of that 21 game stretch at something like 13-6-2. That's likely about the pace we'll need to play at to feel like we have a firm grasp on a chance at a wild card spot. Anything less and we're likely on the outside looking in.