Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Tonight was the final game of the 2021 season for the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Flyers. Outside of odds for the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery, this game had no real meaning beyond it being the 56th and final game of the season for both. To a player, this was a game where they could make one last good impression for their next contract. But the game was otherwise an obligation. Yet, the Devils managed to do what they have done throughout most of the season and disappoint the fans who paid attention to it anyway. The Devils lost their last game of the season 2-4. As usual, it is not so much that they lost that is the issue, but how it happened.
Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Welcome to the end of the 2021 regular season for the East Division. For three teams, their seasons ended on Saturday. However, Coronavirus impacting has forced the league’s hand to re-schedule games and so there are a handful happening in the next few days. As it turned out, most of those games have meaning beyond the regular season. Where in past seasons, I would end the weekly snapshots with the final full week of the season. But as there were potentially real tantalizing stakes in all but one of these extra games, I decided on this one last post and stated so in last week’s snapshot. After a week of playoff teams playing non-playoff teams in the East and a whole lot of news involving the New York Rangers, the potential stakes mostly went up in smoke, but there is something to watch on Monday and Tuesday.
Islanders fight for home-ice advantage in matchup vs. Devils
Field Level Media
08 May 2021, 06:19 GMT+10
The New York Islanders are going to the playoffs, but a poorly timed slide likely will cost them home-ice advantage.
With two games remaining, the Islanders are fourth in the East Division and hope they can reverse some of their recent struggles Saturday night when they host the New Jersey Devilsin their final regular-season game at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y.
The Islanders (31-17-6, 68 points) are three points behind the third-place Boston Bruins, who have three games remaining and host the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The Islanders could be eliminated from catching the second-place Washington Capitals, who will take a five-point lead into their Friday night game with the Philadelphia Flyers.
McLeod, Blackwood lead Devils to win over Islanders
Michael McLeod scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 32 shots and the New Jersey Devils beat the playoff-bound New York Islanders 2-1 Thursday night for their fifth win in six games.
The Canadian Press
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UNIONDALE, N.Y. Michael McLeod scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 32 shots and the New Jersey Devils beat the playoff-bound New York Islanders 2-1 Thursday night for their fifth win in six games.
Pavel Zacha also scored for the Devils, who beat the Islanders for just the second time in seven meetings this season. Coming off an overtime win against Boston, the Devils have won consecutive games against teams headed to the post-season.
Devils edge past skidding Islanders
Field Level Media
07 May 2021, 12:19 GMT+10
Michael McLeod scored the tie-breaking goal late in the second period Thursday night for the visiting New Jersey Devils, who extended the New York Islanders ill-timed late-season skid with a 2-1 win in Uniondale, N.Y.
Pavel Zacha scored in the first and goalie MacKenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for the Devils (19-28-7, 45 points), who have won five of six following a 10-game losing streak.
Anthony Beauvillier scored in the second for the Islanders (31-17-6, 68 points), who spent most of the season battling for first place in the East Division. They have lost three straight to the East s seventh- and eighth-place teams the Buffalo Sabres swept a two-game series earlier this week and have dropped six of eight overall (2-4-2) to ensure they cannot get home-ice for the first round of the playoffs and all but ensure they will not finish higher than fourth.