Game 82 of the season was not a completely meaningless exercise for the islanders.
The 6-1 defeat against the Blue Jackets to finish the year was a shame of an effort, to be sure, but in the loss so loss, the islanders secured the tenth probabilities of the lottery, and with that a shot of 3.5 percent of moving to the first three and of winning the general selection number 1.
Upon entering the day, a victory of the islanders combined with a loss of the rangers would have dropped them at the 11 best lottery probabilities.
If they do not win the lottery, only the opportunity to dress in the top 10 would be significant for the islanders, who have not done Sprive 2014 when they chose Michael Dal Cream in fifth place in general.
The highest election of the draft that Lou Lamoriello has made as general manager was in his first year at work in 2018, when he taught Oliver Wahlstrom and Noah Dobson with selections 11 and 12.
After taking Simon Holmstrom a year later, the islanders did not have a first round selection until 2024, exchanging selections in four consecutive seasons in offers that brought Jean-Gabriel Pagat, Kyle Palmieri.
While the islanders did nothing to indicate a tank posture in their first two games after being officially eliminated from the containment of playoffs, they held Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock out of the alignment on Thursday, inside.
Högberg, for a second consecutive game, looked out of his depth, stopping 20 or 26 shots, thought that the defense against him left much to be desired.
The 35-35-12 record of the islanders left them with 80 points, their worst total in an 82-game season since 2017-18, the last general manager of Garth Snow.
Thursday was Kyle Palmieri’s 900 game.
“It’s great. That’s a lot of hockey in this league,” Palmieri said. “It’s one of those things, you don’t give anything for granted. While you see them accumulate and find those milestones, it’s great. Game 82 for us, it’s about leaving a good note and being happy with the way we play tonight and finishing a team.”
Alexander Romanov was out with the same disease that kept him out of Tuesday’s defeat against the capitals.
