SUNRISE — On a night the Florida Panthers celebrated the 2010s on the final Decades Night, they all but clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs despite a loss to the New York Islanders.
Many of those teams from the 2010s would have taken a postseason berth any way they could.
Florida will be in the playoffs for the fourth straight year, something we already knew, but with the Detroit Red Wings losing big to Carolina on Thursday, Florida’s 3-2 loss to the Islanders does not mean much.
At least when it comes to claiming a spot in the playoffs — which start in just over three weeks on April 20.
Florida has lost six of the past seven (1-5-1) but remain two points back of the Boston Bruins for the top slot in the Atlantic Division with nine games left.
The Panthers held leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but consecutive goals to close the second period for the Islanders did Florida in.
Florida would have clinched a spot in the playoffs with a win — or a Detroit loss in regulation. At the time Florida’s game ended, Carolina was leading 4-0 late in the third.
The Red Wings ended up losing by that score.
1. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Islanders
2. Semyon Varlamov, Islanders
3. Sasha Barkov, Panthers
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