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The state of their rosters and the arc of their seasons do not suggest the New York Islanders and Vancouver Canucks should still be in the postseason race less than a month before the Stanley Cup playoffs begins.

But the Islanders and Canucks will both attempt to continue their unlikely playoff pushes Wednesday night, when New York hosts Vancouver in a game with wild-card implications for both conferences in Elmont, N.Y.

Both teams were off Tuesday after they were on opposite ends of a shootout decision in the metropolitan New York area Monday night. The Islanders continued a four-game homestand by squandering a two-goal first-period lead in a 4-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets while the Canucks overcame a third-period deficit and edged the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in Newark, N.J.

The results at least temporarily improved both clubs’ playoff hopes. The Islanders (32-28-10, 74 points) entered Tuesday tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference with the New York Rangers, one point behind the Montreal Canadiens. The Rangers and Canadiens were scheduled to visit the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues, respectively, on Tuesday night.

The Canucks (33-26-12, 78 points) climbed into sole possession of ninth place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the Calgary Flames and three points behind the Blues. The Flames were slated to host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night.

The Islanders have remained in the race despite trading Brock Nelson to the Colorado Avalanche on March 6 and the absence of first-line center Mathew Barzal, who has been limited to 30 games this season and hasn’t played since suffering a fractured left kneecap Feb. 1.

On Monday night, the Islanders were left to lament what could have been — and to rue the ambiguity of the goalie interference rule — after they missed a chance to tie the Canadiens. Kyle Palmieri appeared to give New York the lead when he redirected Alexander Romanov’s shot with 9.6 seconds left, but the goal was immediately waved off due to interference by Palmieri.

The right winger was battling for position in the crease with Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who shoved Palmieri moments before Romanov’s shot glanced off Palmieri’s stick. The call stood upon an automatic review by the situation room.

“That was, hands down, one of the worst no-goal calls I think I’ve ever seen,” Islanders center Bo Horvat said. “It’s so frustrating, especially this time of the year.”

Frustration has been omnipresent this season for the Canucks, who dealt center J.T. Miller to the Rangers on Jan. 31 after the relationship between Miller and fellow center Elias Pettersson grew strained.

Vancouver, which was a point behind the Flames in the race for the second wild card at the time of the trade, has gone 10-9-2 since the deal but has been leapfrogged by the Blues, who are 14-4-3 since Jan. 31.

The path to the playoffs likely grew tougher Saturday, when Pettersson and left winger Nils Hoglander were injured in a 5-3 loss to the Rangers. Pettersson and Hoglander flew back to Vancouver and will miss the remainder of a six-game road trip that concludes Sunday.

The injuries to Pettersson and Hoglander thinned an already depleted forward corps. Center Filip Chytil, who was acquired in the Miller deal, has missed the last five games with a concussion.

But the Canucks displayed resilience Tuesday night when they overcame a pair of one-goal deficits. Conor Garland scored a 6-on-5 goal with 36 seconds left in the third to force overtime before Jake DeBrusk and Jonathan Lekkerimaki scored in the shootout. Lekkerimaki also scored in the third period.

“I mean, every game is big, so every win right now is huge,” said goalie Thatcher Demko, who had 22 saves after missing the previous 16 games with a lower-body injury. “We know that. We’re ready for that. We’ve kind of had that mentality. I could feel it in the room the last couple of weeks and there’s no turning back now.”

–Field Level Media