The Islanders begin their last road “trip” of the regular season as they head north of the border for visits to tanking Toronto and still playoff-holding Montreal and playoff-hopeful Ottawa.
After this trip, they’ll finish with 10 of 12 games at home and only single-game trips to make up those two away games in Buffalo and Carolina. They can induce karmic damage to the Leafs, depress the Senators’ playoff hopes, and do likewise to the suddenly-not-safe Canaadiens.
As things stand today, the Eastern Conference playoff race is incredibly tight, with the Isles and Penguins in the 2-3 seed of the Metro tied at 81 points, while Boston and Detroit tenuously hold the wild card slots with 80 points, and surging Columbus (79 points) and Ottawa (77 points) not far behind.
So, much to play for from the opponents on this trip, except for the Leafs, who are without Auston Matthews and have a pretty good incentive to tank harder so they can keep the top—five protected pick that is otherwise headed to Boston.