The New York Islanders punched their ticket to the playoffs with a mostly incident-free 4-2 win over one of the league’s worst teams limping its way to the end of the season.
The spoils of their win are as yet undefined — either a doomsday meeting with the record-setting Bruins, or a slightly less terrifying meeting with the Hurricanes — but they did enjoy one raucous celebration with the Elmont crowd, plus the infinite pleasure of eliminating the Penguins after that team shot itself in the foot at home against the terrible Blackhawks.
But pausing the schadenfreude for a moment: The Isles got two goals from Brock Nelson, including one lethal wristshot that has become a staple of his mid-career breakout.