Islanders Gameday: Canadiens visit without their summer prize
Let’s not fold, okay? | Getty Images As the 2025-26 NHL regular season and the Eastern Conference playoff push winds down, there are teams that have seized the moment and strung wins together like the Penguins, Flyers and Senators, and there are teams that have spiraled out of previously promising positions to leave an empty feeling like the Red Wings and Islanders. The Red Wings were officially eliminated last night, coughing up multiple leads against the Devils in front of a quiet home crowd that turned into a minutes-long chorus of boos as Detroit officially reached a decade without a playoff appearance.
Will the Islanders earn such a reaction? It probably depends on their effort over the next two games, but they’ve done themselves no favors. Columbus (92 pts.
) is still in the picture, interrupting their tailspin with a win over the Canadiens last night. The Flyers (94 pts. ) put pressure on everyone by convincingly destroying the Jets in Winnipeg.
The Islanders (91 pts. ) and Capitals (91 pts. ) still have outside chances, but only if everything goes right for them and everything wrong for Philadelphia and Columbus.
The Isles’ foe tonight is the Canadiens, who were beaten by the Blue Jackets at home last night but still have a chance to secure home ice advantage or even a division-winning seed. First Islanders Goal picks go here . Islanders News Special teams killed them again.