It took all 82 games, an answered prayer on Tuesday night and a job finished on Wednesday. Now, the Islanders are in the playoffs.
It took all 82 games, and an answered prayer on Tuesday night, before the Islanders finished the job Wednesday.
And it took a white-knuckle third period against the Canadiens in the very last game of the regular season.For the fourth time in five seasons and the first time since they began playing at UBS Arena, the Islanders will be in the playoffs after Brock Nelson scored twice and they beat the Canadiens 4-2 on Wednesday night.
They also became the fifth of five New York City-area hockey and basketball teams to make the playoffs this season; the only other time that happened was 1994.Brock Nelson celebrates with teammates after scoring the first of his two goals in the Islanders’ 4-2 playoff-clinching win over the Canadiens.
Hudson Fasching celebrates after scoring a first-period goal in the Islanders’ playoff-clinching win.After control of their own destiny slipped through their fingers with a disastrous 5-2 loss at Washington on Monday night, the Islanders could not and did not let a second chance slip through their fingers.
Rem Pitlick tied the score just over seven minutes later, finishing a pass from Jake Evans after Noah Dobson’s defensive zone turnover, but almost immediately, the Islanders pulled back ahead. Everyone in the vicinity gasped at 16:38 of the second, when Nick Suzuki boxed out the Islanders’ Samuel Bolduc and flipped the puck past Sorokin with one hand on his stick for a shorthanded goal to pull Montreal within 3-2.
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