Devils and Sabres both lost tonight, both officially eliminated from playoff contention. They can both top out at 85 points only. NYI has already surpassed that, and either Pittsburgh or Detroit will win Thursday to get to 86.
Islanders win. I think that's all she wrote. Even IF the Wings beat Pittsburgh on Thursday, they'd still be out of playoff position with 3 games to go, with one of those being on the road to Toronto.
Edit: Just realized this win actually puts the Caps 1 pt up on the Wings, not 2. Although effectively 2 points since Caps own the tiebreaker. But still dire straits.
If the Wings lose in regulation and NYI hangs on to their 3-2 lead over Rangers, the Wings are pretty much done. Would need to outpoint NYI and Wash by 3 pts each over the final 4 games.
Wings were the better team for first 36 minutes. But a minute of pressure by the Caps and …a brain cramp in final seconds and …
2-0 after 2. Practically the season on the line the next 20 minutes.
Final 9 minutes almost played without a whistle, until 10 seconds left. 0-0 after 1. Wings were the better team and Compher had a couple of good chances back to back near the end.
Yeah, it's a coin flip. Gun to my head, I have them just missing: Beat Washington, lose to Pittsburgh, lose to Toronto, beat Montreal, OT loss to Montreal. 89 points. Miss by 2 points.