Looking back to look ahead

EASTERN CONFERENCE Standings morning of March 5, 2007
W-L-OL-SL Pts
*Buffalo 44-16-2-3 93
*New Jersey 40-19-0-7 87
Ottawa 38-23-2-3 81
Pittsburgh 35-21-4-5 79
*Tampa Bay 37-26-3-1 78
Atlanta 34-23-7-3 78
NY Islanders 33-23-5-4 75
Carolina 33-28-3-4 73

Montreal 33-29-1-5 72
Toronto 31-26-3-6 71
Boston 32-28-2-3 69
NY Rangers 31-27-3-4 69
Florida 27-26-6-7 67
Washington 24-30-2-10 60
Philadelphia 17-37-5-6 45

That night at MSG, Ricky stood on his head, making 56 saves (many of them of the amazing variety) yet the Isles would eventually lose to the Rangers in a shootout. Three nights later (52 weeks ago tonight) they would beat the Isles 2-1 at the Coliseum in the Chris Simon game and close within three points of the Isles. The Rangers would ride those two games to eventually finish 42-30-5-5 (42-30-10) and make the playoffs comfortably while the Isles would Dubie their way in on Easter Sunday.

Tuesday night at MSG it was the Islanders prevailing in a shootout in a game that the Rangers jumped all over the Isles early but Dubie held the fort.

The standings heading in to Tuesday's game look quite similar but with the Isles and Rangers reversed:

STANDINGS - MORNING OF MARCH 4, 2008
W-L-OL-SL Pts
*Pittsburgh 37-23-4-3 81
*Montreal 36-22-4-5 81
*Carolina 34-29-3-2 73
New Jersey 37-23-3-3 80
Ottawa 37-24-2-4 80
Boston 35-24-3-3 76
NY Rangers 34-24-3-5 76
Philadelphia 33-25-3-5 74

Buffalo 31-26-1-8 71
Washington 31-28-4-4 70
NY Islanders 31-29-5-2 69
Toronto 29-28-7-3 68
Florida 29-31-3-5 66
Atlanta 29-31-1-6 65
Tampa Bay 26-32-6-1 59

Time will tell whether the similarities end there.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick. Eric has worked the Stanley Cup Finals four times, and celebrated his 26th anniversary as the statistician on Islander home telecasts on January 21, 2008.