If the New York Islanders were in the Western Conference, they already would be preparing to host playoff games.
If the Los Angeles Kings were in the Eastern Conference, they likely would have spent the trade deadline looking toward the future instead of loading up for a postseason push.
Thanks to geography, both teams will be in the position of trying to bolster their playoff chances Friday night when the Islanders host the Kings in Elmont, N.Y.
Both have been off since playing overtime road games on Tuesday. The Islanders overcame a three-goal deficit to edge the St. Louis Blues 4-3 and the Kings fell 2-1 to the Boston Bruins.
Mathew Barzal’s winner allowed the Islanders to salvage a split of a four-game road trip (2-2-0) and become the first NHL team to win its first 10 overtime decisions.
The 2021 Vegas Golden Knights went 9-0 in overtime during the pandemic-shortened 56-game season.
More importantly, the two points ensured the Islanders would remain in a playoff spot. New York entered Thursday tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 79 points apiece, three ahead of the surging Columbus Blue Jackets.
“This was an important game,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “Winning that one makes a big difference because every team in our division got a point today.”
The Islanders are tied with the wild card-leading Detroit Red Wings and are one point ahead of the Bruins. The Penguins, Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins all play Thursday night.
The Blue Jackets climbed out of last place in the East and gained seven points on the Islanders by going 14-2-3 since hiring Rick Bowness as head coach on Jan. 12. New York is 12-8-0 in the same span.
The playoff race the Kings are involved in is decidedly less heated.
With 67 points, Los Angeles entered Thursday in a tie with the Seattle Kraken for the West’s second wild-card spot. The Kraken had a game in hand ahead of their clash with the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.
That point total would place the Kings and Kraken in a tie for 13th in the East. The Islanders would have the fourth-most points in the West and the most in the Pacific Division.
The Kings have lost eight of 11 since Feb. 1, a stretch in which they acquired left winger Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers and center Scott Laughton from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Panarin has eight points in eight games with Los Angeles, while Laughton has three points in as many games.
Los Angeles is 2-2-1 since March 1, when head coach Jim Hiller was fired and replaced by D.J. Smith.
The inconsistency stretches further back for the Kings, who have won consecutive games just three times since the start of December. The Islanders have seven separate winning streaks in the span.
The Kings had a chance to win a second straight game Tuesday despite collecting just 16 shots, their third fewest in a game this season. Drew Doughty forced overtime by scoring with six minutes left before Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into the extra session for the Bruins.
“We showed resilience and heart tonight,” Doughty said. “We played hard. We got a point against a really good team and can take some positives, but clearly we need to look at the negatives and fix those things.”
