Others have said this—Mike Leboff talked about it on a recent episode of Islanders Anxiety—but if you are still on Twitter, and you follow New York Islanders-adjacent content, you have probably seen the Isles Magic Number account. They do indispensable work, tracking daily the magic number (to clinch a playoff berth) and the tragic number (to be eliminated from playoff contention), as well as each day’s potential scenarios for the numbers to move. The account has become an essential follow for the bubble team we’ve been cursed to watch.
Obviously, you want the magic number to hit 0 before the tragic number, and throughout the long, 82-game season, a team is in a playoff spot if the magic number is lower than the tragic number; and vice versa, if the tragic number is lower, a team is out of a spot.