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It’ll all come down to the final two games of the regular season for the New York Islanders, as they attempt to hang onto a wild card spot in the East.
The team is coming off a key 4-0 shutout win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. Scott Mayfield got the Islanders on the board in the opening frame (despite New York being outshot by a 15-8 margin), before the Islanders took control in the second period. New York limited the Flyers to only four shots and a goal from Brock Nelson on a rush, followed by a nice shot by Samuel Bolduc left New York up by three through 40 minutes. New York held on from there and Hudson Fasching secured the win with a late goal, as Ilya Sorokin picked up the 27-save shutout.
The win keeps the Islanders in a playoff spot with two games to go, but the wild card race looks exactly the same as before the Saturday game. Both the Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins won their weekend games as well, so the Islanders and Panthers are still both a point up on the Pittsburgh Penguins, with all teams at two games remaining.
The schedule for the six remaining games between the teams is as follows: the Islanders play the Washington Capitals on the road tomorrow, while the Panthers will host the Maple Leafs. Then on Tuesday, the Penguins host the Chicago Blackhawks, while the Islanders will be back in action for their final game of the regular season on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens. On Thursday, the Penguins will play their final game on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Panthers host the Carolina Hurricanes.
Simply put, if the Islanders earn three points over their last two games, they reach the playoffs (even if the Penguins win both of their last two games, based on the tiebreaker). A regulation loss, however, would complicate things and result in the Islanders being at the mercy of the Panthers and/or Penguins.
The Islanders control their own fate and are in a good position, with their two games against non-playoff teams. But a lot of questions were asked about direction of the team after missing the postseason last year, and then after nearly falling out of contention this season, there's certainly a lot riding on locking up a playoff spot.
After a couple wins, we'll see if the Islanders can carry the momentum forward to the most important games of the season.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM APRIL
Islanders lose both games of weekend back-to-back as playoff race tightens
Islanders keep playoff fate in their own hands with big win over Lightning 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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