Playoffs Hopes All But Gone for Rangers and Isles

It's getting late and it appears the gateway to the postseason is about to disappear for both the New York Rangers and Islanders as only a week of games remain before the regular season ends.

Following a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night, the Rangers sit with 79 points, now tied with Detroit for third place in the wild-card race. Both teams are starring up at the Montreal Canadians, who hold the final playoff spot with 85 points to their credit.

The Islanders sit right behind the Rangers with only 78 points.

“It sucks to be in this position,” Jonny Brodzinski told reporters following Monday's loss. “None of us wanted to be in it.” 

Well they are in it, up to the necks. The Rangers have struggled all year to find an identity that matched the team that was a Presidents Cup winner a year ago. They made eight different trades dating back to December that saw them ship the likes of Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakka, Victor Mancini, Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vessey and Reilly Smith, and the results have been the same.

Since a 4-0 victory over the Islanders back on March 3 that propelled them back into the mix in the East, the Rangers are 5-8-3 since, including the last two games against the Devils and Lightning by a combined score of 9-1.

There has been rampant speculation for much of the season that the Blue Shirts might part ways with Head Coach Peter Laviolette, who is only in his second year as Head Coach, and if he were axed, would be quite unfortunate considering his track record of success in other stops is Hall of Fame worthy.

Meanwhile there were reports early in the year about unrest between the players and General Manager Chris Drury, with a sense that Drury lost the room. If there is a change at GM, it would have to come from James Dolan, who has been more willing to take a backseat on the Rangers, as compared to the Knicks over the years.

So stay tuned.

As for the Islanders they've never really been "in it" all year. It felt like at best they were hovering around the playoff race, but never really challenged. Trading away Brock Nelson appeared to signal that a rebuild was on the horizon, but then the Isles decided to make no further moves in that direction.

Will the Islanders stick with veteran executive Lou Lamoriello and head coach Patrick Roy for another year? We'll see. We can understand fan unrest here, but the Islanders have been patient, especially with Lamoriello who hasn't quiet matched the success he once enjoyed across the Hudson with the Devils.