For the New York Islanders, the equation is simple: If they don’t win an unofficial playoff game against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, they almost certainly won’t participate in a true playoff game next week.
Both clubs will continue their pursuit of a postseason berth when New York hosts Ottawa in a pivotal Eastern Conference matinee in Elmont, N.Y.
Both teams were off Friday after earning victories at home Thursday. The Islanders won Peter DeBoer’s debut as head coach by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3, while the Senators routed the Florida Panthers 5-1.
The win by the Senators (42-27-10, 94 points) didn’t help the Islanders (43-31-5, 91 points) as they try to scramble back into the postseason picture after spending most of the season entrenched in a playoff spot.
While the Islanders remained three points behind the Senators in the race for the second and final wild-card spot, they inched within one point of Philadelphia (40-27-12, 92 points) for third place in the Metropolitan Division after the Flyers fell 6-3 Thursday to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Islanders and Red Wings (41-29-9, 91 points) are one point ahead of the Columbus Blue Jackets (39-28-12, 90 points) and two points ahead of the Washington Capitals (40-30-9, 89 points).
All six teams have three games left and are in action Saturday.
The win Thursday snapped a season-high four-game losing streak for the Islanders, who fired Patrick Roy as head coach Sunday morning, hours after a 4-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
New York never trailed Thursday, when Brayden Schenn and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored within the first five minutes. Steven Lorentz and Easton Cowan scored within a span of a little more than seven minutes bridging the first two periods before Matthew Schaeffer collected the go-ahead goal at 9:39 of the second for the Islanders, who outshot the Maple Leafs 44-16.
“There was just a lot of really good stuff,” DeBoer said. “We’ve been talking all week about playoff habits. You have to have them this time of year to give yourself a chance to get in the playoffs.”
The Senators’ third straight win continued a strong second-half surge for Ottawa, which is trying to reach the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2012-13.
The Senators have gone 19-6-3 since Jan. 25, a span in which they’ve authored four winning streaks of at least three games. Ottawa has dropped consecutive games just once in that stretch.
Ottawa, which began its current winning streak by beating the playoff-bound Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning, took control quickly Thursday against the Panthers, who won the last two Stanley Cups but have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Drake Batherson, Fabian Zetterlund and Artem Zub scored within the first 23:03 for the Senators, who haven’t trailed since the first period of Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Hurricanes.
“Nice to win, but also playing the way we want to play,” said Senators defenseman Jake Sanderson, who had a pair of assists Thursday. “Obviously want to get points, but going down the stretch, we want to do it the right way.”
