There were chants of “Bar-ry Trotz,” “Leh-NER” and “We want playoffs!” as the New York Islanders clinched a playoff spot, doing so at Nassau Coliseum for the first time since 2002, in a comprehensive 5-1 destruction of the Buffalo Sabres.
The Isles came ready to play and make no doubt about how they’d like to clinch, starting the game with persistent pressure and zone time and never really letting up until the game was well out of hand in the final stretch of the third period.
The result keeps the Isles at pace with the Washington Capitals, though another victory for them tonight is putting the Metro Division title increasingly out of reach.