Franchise First: Islanders Take Home Presidents' Trophy

The New York Islanders clinched the first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history on Monday night, narrowly edging the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 in a shootout.

The victory bumped the Isles' season point total to 125, leaving them 14 clear of the New York Rangers with the Islanders already holding the regulation wins tiebreaker.

As a result, the Isles also locked down their first-ever Metropolitan Division championship.

Asked what the titles mean to his team, General Manager Kyle Phillips didn't shy away from the fact it had been on the group's mind. 

"It hasn't been our main focus by any means, but the fact we came extremely close to finishing first overall a couple years ago, I want to say it's been a bit of a pebble in our shoe since then.

"Everybody could tell by how they came out in this game that our guys really wanted it."

Head Coach Mike Sullivan was also impressed with the performance of his players.

"For me it's been the consistency right from the start of training camp, Game One, through to now.

"There have been some blips in the results along the way, which you're always gonna have. But I've just been so impressed at this group's ability to bring the same level of compete, the same level of focus night after night, month after month.

"We've got seven games left to finish the first part of the journey, so I expect they'll keep bringing that consistency and we'll see where it takes us."