Icelanders parade past Sabers to qualify for playoffs

It was less a hockey match than an evening.

The resumption of the Islanders' season has taken a big step forward in tackling the club's first playoff appearance since 2016, winning a 5-1 victory over the terrible Sabers on Saturday night at the Coliseum. It was the first time the islands had won a home position since 2002.

The Islanders (46-26-7) needed a regulation victory or a defeat against the Canadiens, but as they have done all season, they took matters into their own hands. The Sabers (31-37-10) continued their horrible fainting at the end of the season. They never had a chance. Head coach Barry Trotz has always wanted to do it all season in his remarkable first year behind the bench.

"We continued after all year long, so let's not wait for someone else to do our job," Trotz said before the game. "Let's just do our job and do it."

Owner Jon Ledecky had spent part of the second period walking around the stands, shaking hands and listening to his name sung in song by the adoring fans. At that time, there was little left in question, the Islanders entering the third period, up 3-0.

The songs are divided into "We want series!", While the Isles rose 4-0 on a goal from Ryan Pulock, just 30 seconds from the third. Then there were songs from "Barry Trotz!" After Anthony Beauvillier had his second match of the night on an undisputed recording at 6:07, bringing the score to 5-0.

Robin Lehner, the Islanders goaltender, was whitened when Victor Olofsson scored his first NHL career goal in power play with a time remaining at 6:32 to be 5-1.

The Islanders wanted to get to the top of the Sabers early, and that's what they did. Buffalo appeared to have lost competitiveness at home, and the Isles won 1-0 when Jordan Eberle scored his fourth goal in four games, marking the return of a Mathew Barzal shot at 7:41.

The Isles scored 2-0 when Devon Toews played a nice game on his own blue line, discovering Beauvillier in the slot. His deviated shot beat goalkeeper Carter Hutton and gave Beauvillier his 17th of the season.

Before the end of the second run, Michael Dal Colle had managed to block one after overtaking Hutton with just 33.2 seconds left, giving the Isles a 3-0 lead. It was a dominant performance and it finally made the post-season a reality.

"The first step is getting an invitation to dance," Trotz said. "So we tried to clean ourselves, to comb our hair and show off, to put a lot of work into it and, hopefully, that somebody else would see you and enter. "