Numbers don't lie: Isles have almost no chance to make the playoffs

From the geniuses at Sports Club Stats, a website that charts playoff percentages from day one of every pro season, comes this rather stark account: The Islanders, with 53 games still to go, have a 0.03247% chance of making the postseason.

In other words, they have almost no chance. Or, really, no chance.

I'd guess it's some Islanders fans have already accepted, since there were only 7,659 announced at the Coliseum for last night's 3-2 win over the Ducks. And then there's the case of the season-ticket holders who feel that even a children's hospital visit is a good time to berate the Isles -- I applaud that nurse for working with sick kids, but there's still a time and a place.

And even a common-sense approach tells you the Islanders have an almost impossible climb to get among the top 8 in the East. They'd need something around 90 points -- perhaps more, given the good point totals for the top teams in the East so far -- and that would mean a 34-14-5 record, at minimum, the rest of the way.

But 0.03% is a very small number. It puts this Islander team's struggles into a very stark light.