Islanders can only control one thing in playoff push: Winning

It was not a warning. Not really, anyway.

The words that tumbled forth from Brayden Schenn were more an acknowledgment of the obvious. But they came with a caveat.

Yes, the Islanders are in the enviable position of being chased for a Stanley Cup playoff berth with just a handful games remaining in the 2025-26 regular season instead of having to chase. Still, as the Stanley Cup-winner pointed out to Newsday, that is a benefit only if they are able to win games and earn points.

“We did some good things [against Pittsburgh and Buffalo],” Schenn said following a spirited 30-minute practice on Thursday morning at Northwell Health Ice Center. “We just didn’t do enough good things to win hockey games. So being chased is always a thing. I know teams have games in hand on us now but at the end of the day we have to worry about controlling what we can, and that’s winning hockey games.”

For the Islanders, who begin the final six games of their 2025-26 regular season Friday night at UBS Arena against the Flyers with a record of 42-29-5 and 89 points, the question is what do they have to do over the next week-and-a-half in order to qualify for the playoffs for the 30th time in franchise history?

Shot generation and shot suppression are good starting points, since both were problematic areas in their 8-3 loss to Pittsburgh on home ice Monday and their 4-3 loss to the Sabres in Buffalo Tuesday.

According to hockey analytics website NaturalStatTrick.com, the Islanders were outshot 30-20, out-attempted 47-32, and allowed 17 more high-danger chances than they created (24-7) against the Penguins. Twenty-four hours later, the Islanders were outshot 25-15, out-attempted 51-32, and had nine fewer high-danger chances than the Sabres (12-3).

It is somewhat difficult to win hockey games when a team is not generating scoring chances while, simultaneously, yielding scoring chances.

“I thought we played a good game against Buffalo. There’s a few things we could clean up here and there,” coach Patrick Roy said. “It’s going to be important for us to have a good start and play a good game at home. I think we’re all disappointed [with] the loss [to] Pittsburgh and we want to make sure we play a good game here at home.”

Playing well on home ice has been a season-long trend for the Islanders, whose 21-13-2 mark at home ranks 13th in the NHL according to data culled by StatMuse.com. And the Islanders play five of their final six games at UBS Arena.

“It’s massive,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “We’ve been on the road so much and the travel part, from what I’ve learned [from] experience, it always catches up towards the end of the year. Just to have that final stretch at home will be massive for everyone.”

That is the good news.

The not-quite-as-good news is that, hours after they departed their East Meadow practice facility, the Islanders found themselves in the role of interested, albeit powerless, observer.

Because four of the teams chasing them — Columbus (38-25-12, 88 points), Ottawa (38-26-10, 86 points), Detroit (39-27-8, 86 points) and Philadelphia (37-25-12, 86 points) — all were in action.

The Blue Jackets entered the day in the second wild-card spot in the East, and the Senators, Red Wings and Flyers are the first three teams under the playoff cut line.

The Blue Jackets called on Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina.  The Senators skated against the Sabres while the Red Wings and Flyers went head-to-head.

So, the possibility existed that by the end of the evening the Islanders could find themselves in the second wild card if the Blue Jackets beat the Hurricanes, and perhaps only a point ahead of two of the Senators, Red Wings, and/or Flyers.

“We control our own destiny,” Carson Soucy said. “We’re in the spot right now so we have to win some games.”