The New York Islanders know how the New Jersey Devils have felt at the end of the last two regular seasons.
Suffice to say the Islanders would much prefer to feel like the Devils right now, not the Devils of a year ago.
The Islanders will begin playing out the string while the Devils continue tuning up for the playoffs when New York visits New Jersey on Sunday in Newark, N.J. It’s the final clash of the season between the Metropolitan Division rivals.
The Islanders are completing a back-to-back road set after they were eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday afternoon with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. The Devils last played Friday, when they fell 4-2 to the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins.
A playoff berth has been a longshot most of the season for the Islanders (34-33-12, 80 points), who haven’t occupied a spot amongst the Eastern Conference top eight since Nov. 19, just 19 games into the schedule.
But the reality of Saturday’s loss — sealed when the Flyers’ Bobby Brink scored the only goal of a five-round shootout — still stung for the Islanders, whose only path to the playoffs involved winning their final four games while the Montreal Canadiens lost their last four games.
Instead, the Islanders will miss the playoffs for just the second time in seven seasons. New York fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round in each of the last two years.
“This isn’t a place where we want to be,” said Islanders captain Anders Lee, one of a handful of players who have been a part of New York’s last five playoff teams.
“We fought through a lot of adversity and did our best to keep our footing and give ourselves a chance in the last 15 games, but (there were) stretches at times that lasted a game or two too long and put us in a spot where it was out of our control,” Lee said.
Despite a spate of injuries, the Devils (41-31-7, 89 points) have been in control of their own destiny most of the season and will return to the playoffs for the second time in three years. New Jersey finished 13th in the Eastern Conference last season after snapping a four-year playoff drought in 2022-23, when it beat the New York Rangers in the first round.
New Jersey, which is locked into third place in the Metropolitan Division, will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round, though the Devils will have to take the ice without Jack Hughes, who is out for the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury suffered March 2. Hughes still ranks second on the team with 70 points despite his lengthy absence.
The Devils will also be without defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, who suffered a lower-body injury Feb. 4. But fellow blue-liner Dougie Hamilton, who hasn’t played since March 4 due to a lower-body injury, returned to practice Saturday.
“It was great to see him out there — it’s an important step in his rehab process,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He ended up doing a lot more than we anticipated, which is a positive sign that he was feeling good. Very encouraging.”
–Field Level Media
