The Big X

The New York Islanders became the first team to punch their ticket to the 2025 EHE playoffs on Tuesday, despite falling 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout.

The single point garnered from stretching the game to extra time pushed the Isles' season point total to 111, officially putting them out of reach of the teams currently vying for the second wildcard in the Eastern Conference. (The Ottawa Senators could technically reach 111 points in their remaining 18 games, but the Islanders have already locked in the first tiebreaker with 50 regulation wins to the Sens' 26.)

To be sure, backing into a postseason spot with a loss probably wasn't how anyone in the Islanders organization would have drawn things up. But after missing the playoffs in 2023-24, nobody around the team was complaining.

"It definitely checks the first box on our list of goals when the season started," said Head Coach Mike Sullivan. "So we'll take tomorrow to enjoy things a little and then get back at it on Thursday.

"This was Step One, but we've all got our sights set on bigger things."

On that front, the Islanders are now within striking distance of not only the first President's Trophy in franchise history, but also have a shot at besting the EHE records for both wins and points in a season. To get there they'd need to ring up at least 11 wins and/or 19 points over their remaining 17 games, so there's certainly nothing set in stone—especially with three games coming up against the cross-state rival New York Rangers.

But however the next few weeks shake out, the Isles and their fans can, for one day at least, simply look forward to the return of playoff hockey on Long Island.