At 9:01 P.M. EST, the New York Islanders 2006-07 season was declared dead.

That is all.

Local Hockey Tripleheader (Sort of) tomorrow:

12:00 NHL On NBC Countdown to Faceoff (NBCSports.com)
12:30 Detroit vs. Columbus (NBC-HD)
3:00 Devils Gamenight (FSN NY)
3:30 Boston vs. Devils (FSN NY/inHD)
6:00 I don’t know, order a pizza?
6:30 Rangers Gamenight (MSG)
7:00 Rangers vs. Toronto (MSG)

The Devils, after both teams played dreadfully, got a 3-1 win over Filthy. Rupp, Zajac and Pando (!) scored for NJ to put them back in first on wins in the Atlantic. Pittsburgh is in T.O. on Saturday, the Devils are home to Boston on Sunday.

The Isles on the other hand, let a chance to overtake 8th place slip away. They blew it. AGAIN! Why does this team keep going with Mike Dunham? It clearly just isn’t working for Marty Brodeur’s former understudy. Dubliewicz comes in and stops 17 of 18 while Miller lets in 3rd period goals. Please, oh please, Teddy boy, let Doobie start on Saturday. The Isles have Ottawa at the Mausoleum on HNIC.

Buffalo, with their next win, will clinch top seed in the East.

Ottawa beat Montreal tonight, keeping the Isles two points out.

In rearview mirror news, FLORIDA WON AGAIN. 3-2 over the Caps. They have to be taken seriously this last week of the season. I sincerely believe they have a shot, merely because their remaining schedule is Carolina twice, and Tampa and DC on the road. They will have a prayer when Sunday brings on the Canes in Sunrise.

Tampa moved into 6th with their win over the Canes.

Here’s how 2-13 look, sheesh.

2. NJ - 100 PTS, 4 Games Left
3. ATL - 91 PTS, 4 Games Left
4. PIT - 100 PTS, 4 Games Left
5. OTT - 100 PTS, 4 Games Left
6. TB - 88 PTS, 4 Games Left
7. NYR - 87 PTS, 5 Games Left
8. MTL - 86 PTS, 4 Games Left
———————————
9. TOR - 85 PTS, 5 Games Left
10. NYI - 84 PTS, 5 Games Left
11. CAR - 84 PTS, 4 Games Left
12. FLA - 82 PTS, 4 Games Left

Devils are home to Philthy tonight at 7:30 on FSN, Isles at 8:00 are in Buffalo, in what is really a must-win for this team. This is the game in hand they have on EVERYONE. This is the definition of must win.

Devils need to win to get back ahead of Pittsburgh. Madden is back in the lineup tonight. Woo.

Here’s my column from SFM this week.

Super-zoomed in cameras are not the answer to the NHL’s television problem. Just because we’re getting closer to the ice with the angle does not give you a better view of the game, it worsens it. Watching New Jersey-Florida from Sunrise on Saturday, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. Grinding along the boards was a mystery, a few goals were out of sight. Tell you what: Put the camera wherever you want, use the crowd noise at the games (especially this time of year) to put the casual fan in the arena. Putting the camera in the 10th row and zooming in is not the solution.

Enjoy It

Well, there goes the conference. We gotta play better. You chalk as many games up to being tired as you want, but at some point your just gonna have to fight through it.

Great goals from Buffalo. They played fantastic. 2-2 season series for these teams. I hope they meet in the Conference Finals.

Both the Rangers and Islanders suffered costly losses tonight. Up two after a strong first period up north, the Rangers imploded in a dreadful second giving up five consecutive goals to fall behind 5-2. Though they got two in the third, it wasn’t enough to come all the way back as they dropped one to the Canadiens 6-4- snapping their season high five-game win streak.

Meanwhile, the Islanders dropped one at home to the Devils 3-2 in a game they never led. The loss was their second straight and leaves them in dire straits heading into a difficult final six-game stretch which includes games against Buffalo, Ottawa, the Rangers, Leafs, Flyers and Devils. With No.1 goalie Rick DiPietro uncertain due to postconcussion symptoms probably stemming from a dirty play by Ranger pest Sean Avery and then a puck to the mask by Jaromir Jagr Sunday which probably reinjured the netminder, the Fishsticks will need backup Mike Dunham to come up big. They’ll also need to score a lot of goals.

Congrats to the Pens on qualifying for their first postseason in six years (five seasons). They fought back from two down to post a 4-3 win at Washington. The win enabled them to keep pace with the Devils, who clinched a playoff spot for the 10th straight season Tuesday night in Long Island. Tied for first with 98 points, the Devs still hold two tiebreakers over the Pens with one extra game left.

For more on the breakdown of the battle for the final three playoff spots, please check out the remaining schedules for the six teams vying at Hitting Back.

There is one game on the schedule Wednesday night which has implications as Carolina visits the Flyers. The Canes find themselves in a three-way tie for ninth with the Leafs and Isles. All three know their work will be cut out for them in trailing eighth by two points and seventh by three. It should be a wild ride to the finish!

People are probably wondering what I think about this deal. In case you haven’t heard, here’s the basic details:

-9 National Games of the Week
-Flex Scheduling. NHL picks 3 games for each broadcast window at least, NBC picks 1 game 13 days prior.
-All games in HD.
-Playoffs are the same.

I think it’s worth a shot, you know? We’ve gone with the old formula (3 Regional Games) for years. There going to put it in a timeslot on Sunday, and air the games.

Bravo.

Tonight, Devils-Islanders on VERSUS at 7:30. Doc, Brian Engblom and Chris Simpson with the call. Devils will make Dunham look like Roy tonight.

TSN reports that Rick DiPietro is suffering Post Concussion Syndrome and is out indefinitely. A reliable source on the HFBOARDS says that he is out at least for the remainder of the regular season.

With the difficult level of competition the Isles face in their remaining schedule, the Fat Lady is now singing. Turn out the lights, this party is over.

Let’s hope DP can shake this thing and be okay for next season.

A fun chance to see how the other half lives tonight at 7 on VERSUS and VSHD.

Joe Beninati, Darren Eliot and Billy Jaffe (!) have the call.

I can’t really term that weak for two reasons:

A.It was a 4-on-3.
B.It was a deflection in front.

It’s awfully difficult to kill DiPi on that. If that’s how we’re going to be, then I guess Marty’s rebound on one of the Panthers’ goals sucked. Maybe he’s wearing down.

P.S. The Avs announcer is a maniac. The Canucks scored two straight to go up 3-1. Then the Avs scored and he went berserk going, “Scoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

He sounded like he might jump out of his body. Does he really still believe they’re making it over Calgary? :-\