{"id":546137,"date":"2026-04-07T19:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546137\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:58:23","slug":"islanders-hoping-pete-deboer-hire-can-loosen-things-up-for-final-playoff-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/546137\/","title":{"rendered":"Islanders hoping Pete DeBoer hire can loosen things up for final playoff push"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Bo\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Mar 24, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders center Bo Horvat (14) skates against Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Sam Rinzel (6) and center Sam Lafferty (24) during the third period at UBS Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

ELMONT, NY \u2014\u00a0Bo Horvat was in his backyard with his wife and children on Sunday morning, enjoying their annual Easter egg hunt, which this year just so happened to fall on the New York Islanders star forward\u2019s 31st birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then his phone began blowing up.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Head coach Patrick Roy had been fired following a critical four-game losing streak that sank the Islanders out of a playoff spot with four games left to play in the regular season. In comes Pete DeBoer, the veteran bench boss who has recently led the Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars to five of the last six Western Conference finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not very normal in [the timing] sense, for sure,\u201d Horvat admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a wake-up call for us, a little bit of a reality check that we\u2019re not doing the right things, and it\u2019s not good enough right now. We have to step up, take a long look in the mirror, and come to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PetePete DeBoer Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Islanders are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games, and entering Tuesday\u2019s slate of games around the league, sit one point behind the Ottawa Senators for the final Eastern Conference Wild Card spot and the Philadelphia Flyers for third place and an automatic playoff berth in the Metropolitan Division. Both teams have played one fewer game than New York\u2019s 78.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The writing was on the wall following Friday night\u2019s loss to the Flyers when Roy shouldered some of the blame for not having his team ready \u2014 a trend that had become increasingly concerning over the last two weeks and forced them to play from behind more often than not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Forward Emil Heineman admitted that \u201cwe tightened up a bit\u201d in recent weeks, with a surprising playoff berth getting closer and closer by the day.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted it that much, and it\u2019s within reach,\u201d Heineman told amNewYork. \u201cIt\u2019s a trying period. Overall, we all want it the same, and I guess this will be a little bit of a spark for us, and I\u2019m looking forward to getting a few days of practice and heading over to the games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EmilEmil Heineman Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cPressure like that can get to you for sure,\u201d Horvat added. \u201cIt\u2019s tight games coming down the stretch. The race is so tight to get into the playoffs, and every little play, every little thing you do out there matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always in the back of your mind where we are in the standings and people catching us. And I think we just got to go out there and have fun again and play loose and enjoy coming to the rink and playing the game that we love.\u201d<\/p>\n

The hope is that DeBoer can loosen things up in the locker room, with an 18-year head-coaching resume<\/a> that has included nine playoff berths in the last 11 years and a pair of Stanley Cup Final appearances with the New Jersey Devils (2012) and San Jose Sharks (2016).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows what it takes,\u201d Horvat said. \u201cHe knows what makes a successful team and a team that can make the playoffs. I think he can bring that wisdom and that presence in our room that can push us over the edge\u2026 If you were to tell us at the beginning of September that we\u2019re fighting for a playoff spot right now, I think we would all take it. So we\u2019re in a good spot. We\u2019re still fighting for a spot, and you got to enjoy the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on the Islanders, visit AMNY.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mar 24, 2026; Elmont, New York, USA; New York Islanders center Bo Horvat (14) skates against Chicago Blackhawks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[3669,3427,5,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4,2905,2087,5217,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-546137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-bo-horvat","9":"tag-emil-heineman","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-islanders","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-islanders","14":"tag-newyork","15":"tag-newyorkislanders","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-patrick-roy","18":"tag-pete-deboer","19":"tag-pm-newsletter","20":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116365199378318777","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}