Isles make playoffs with a little help from Panthers

THE ISLANDERS are in.

Despite being idle on Thursday night, the Isles clinched their second postseason berth in three years thanks to the Panthers, who beat the visiting Bruins, 4-2. With one game left to play in its regular season, Boston (41-27-13, 95 points) is in danger of missing the playoffs. The Bruins cannot catch the Isles (46-28-6), who already have 98.

Though they have now officially punched their ticket, the Isles haven’t looked much like a playoff team lately. On March 10, they had 90 points and were still in first place with a one-point edge over the Rangers. They are 3-7-2 since.

Even though the Islanders have qualified for the playoffs, there is still much to play for. Home ice still isn’t out of reach in the first round, but only if the Isles can win their final two games and vault ahead of the second-place Capitals (45-25-11, 101 points), who have one game left to play. Friday night’s matchup in Pittsburgh will be as close to a playoff game as the Isles have seen this year as the Penguins (42-26-12, 96 points) are also fighting for their playoff lives but could still pass them in the standings.

Beyond playoff positioning, the Islanders would simply like to end their regular season by gaining some momentum in Pittsburgh and in Saturday’s regular-season finale against the Blue Jackets. Despite the Isles’ recent dry spell, John Tavares still thinks his team will be a tough out come playoff time.

“Personally, I think we’ve proven this year the talent we have, the depth we have. We’re a hard team to match up against,” said the Islander captain who is still in the hunt for the Art Ross Trophy. “I don’t think teams like playing us. We’re a tough team to match up against.”

“We feel we’ve got the right personnel to get the job done,” Travis Hamonic said. “We’re just excited for the challenge. It’s going to be a big weekend for us, certainly, and Friday night should be one of the fun games to play in.”