Islanders Sneak into Final Playoff Spot [J. Mark English]

Polar opposites best describes the difference between the NBA Eastern Conference, and the NHL Eastern Conference. In the NBA, you scores of team losing as much as they can seemingly to avoid the final playoff spots. In the NHL, every team was fighting tooth and nail just for the chance to squeak into the final spot available for the rights to play for the Stanley Cup.

Today, the New York Islanders, in dramatic fashion, survived a gut check moment, and found themselves very much alive after a thriller against the New Jersey Devils.

Jason Lockhart from the Islanders website records how it all went down in the Meadowlands:

Call it improbable (or even impossible by some) but somehow the 2007 Islanders found a way to reach the playoffs in the most heart-wrenching way possible by defeating the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in a shootout Sunday afternoon at the Continental Airlines Arena...

...Before the Islanders even had control of their own postseason fate, the Islanders needed to string together three consecutive wins over the Rangers, Maple Leafs and Flyers as well as get help from those same Rangers and Leafs against the Montreal Canadiens. All five games ended the Islanders' way setting up Sunday's storybook finale against the Devils, who were title and the second spot in the East...

...For much of the game, the Islanders pressed the Devils, who, despite their situation, continued to play stifling defense, limiting the Islanders' chances. For their effort, the Islanders were able to get two past backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen following Richard Park's second goal of the game at 7:51 of the third period.

The Islanders did not sit back, but John Madden cut the Islanders lead by re-directing Jay Pandolfo's shot past Islanders unexpected, late-season hero Wade Dubielewicz with less than five minutes to go in the third period, setting up a nerve-racking finish for Islanders fans.

With their goalie pulled, the Devils pressed unlike they had been doing all game, but were merely playing a playoff tune-up having already clinched the Atlantic Division unable to generate many shots on Dubielewicz, who faced 22 shots through three periods.

With less than 20 seconds remaining on the clock, Brendan Witt tried a bank shot off the glass to Ryan Smyth to spring him for a breakaway, with nothing but a gaping net stopping the Islanders from reaching the playoffs, but the puck never got out and found its way to the left wing boards where Jamie Langenbrunner stood....

...In the overtime, you could feel the hearts of the thousands of Islanders fans in the crowd nearly stop with every shot the Devils took, knowing each could be their last. But as Dubielewicz had the past four games, he came up with saves bigger than the previous ones. Shots in the overtime were a conservative 3-2 advantage for the Islanders...

...The storybook ending fittingly went into a shootout with huge question marks on everyone's mind....Satan shot first and instead of his usual deke, wristed a shot past Clemmensen for a 1-0 Islanders lead. Next for the Devils went sophomore forward Zach Parise, who used a nice juke to the backhand to even the score at one....

....As the players jumped over the bench, the three coaches embraced celebrating what was truly a storybook ending to one of the most improbable playoff berths in NHL history...

"It was like a Hollywood ending," said Nolan. "You couldn't have written a much better script than this. This group truly deserves this."