The Islanders have clinched a spot in the playoffs and now the hunt for home ice advantage begins. The Islanders defeated the Rangers by a final score of 3-0, the win guaranteed the Islanders a spot so, what does tha mean? The Isles are coming off a deep run that took them to overtime in game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. This is a team that is built to win in the playoffs with a coach that knows how to win championships. With that said the Islanders have to keep fighting, they have a fairly easy rest of the year so the chase for first place and home ice advantage are not out of reach. If the Islanders do play their way into home ice advantage that would benefit them as their home record is (20-3-3) while their road record is (11-12-2). Obviously the Islanders are much better in their home building, that is magnified when you bring in their road record specifically against the Capitals and Penguins, They are 0-4 in Washington and 0-4 in Pittsburgh for a combined 0-8 record against those two clubs. That just means the Islanders have to battle even harder to get home ice. In any case the playoffs are a new season and the Islanders have punched their ticket. In terms of the East Division the Islanders are the third team to clinch and they have clinched on home ice 2 of the last three years, obviously last year they automatically clinched during quarantine but in any case the Isles had a signature moment to finish out the final game of the Islanders Rangers rivalry from the Nassau Coliseum with a dominating win. They have 5 games left to chase down the aforementioned home ice advantage but other than that it has been an exceptional season in crazy circumstances that is only just beginning for the Islanders as they make their way back to the playoffs.