European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 10, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday april 10 2007 stars and stripes Page 37 islanders outlast devils earn final playoff berth the associated press East Rutherford no the new York islanders thanked the Toronto Maple Leafs then knocked them out what a Way to finish a season less than 24 hours after Toron tos stirring Victory Over Montre Al eliminated the canadians and kept the islanders and Maple Leafs alive new York won a thrill ing 32 shootout at new Jersey on sunday to capture the last Avail Able playoff spot in the nil Post season the Maple Leafs could Only sit Home and watch the islanders give Toronto Hope by allowing the tying goal with less than a second remaining and men snatch it away on the games final shot on the seasons final Day we didst lose any Hope is Landers defens Eman Brendan Witt said we Coul Dve easily said of if s not meant to be but Guys battled hard in overtime and got us out in the shootout that capped a week in which the islanders won their final four games and leapfrogged Idle Tor onto and Montreal on sunday to finish eighth in the Eastern con Ference our Fate was in their hands and their Fate was in our hands islanders Forward Ryan Smyth said we seemed to find an extra Edge every team that is out of the playoffs would love to be in the position that we were in and have that Chance we made the most of it the islanders took a 20 Lead on a pair of goals by Richard Park but blew it in the final of regulation on two goals by John mad Den the latter scored with 09 seconds left they survived overtime and moved on when third string goalie Wade Tubielewicz poke checked the puck away from Sergei Brylin to end the shootout not a bad Way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the easter epic a four overtime Victory against Washington in game 7 of the first round playoff series that ended on Pat Lafontaine goal now they will face the top seed de Buffalo sabres the presidents trophy winners who closed their season sunday in less dramatic fashion with a meaningless 43 loss to Philadelphia the team with the leagues worst record Detroit which wrapped its sea son saturday tied Buffalo with an no High 113 Points but the sabres secured Home ice advantage throughout the playoffs by win Ning 53 More than the red wings stars 3 Blackhawk 2 at dal Las Mike Modano scored his 507th career goal with left to extend his record for unborn players Dallas went 1222 in its last 16 games to finish with 107 Points flyers 4 sabres 3 at Philadel phia the flyers ended their worst season in 40 years by denying but Bill Kostro Swap the new York islanders Chris Campoli right hugs Richard Park after Park scored during the third period of sundays game Falo a Chance to finish with the highest Point total in its history Mike Knuble and Mike Richards scored third period goals for Phil Adelphia coyotes 3 canucks 1 Derek Morris scored the godhead goal three seconds into a Power play at of the first period to hit Host Phoenix Jeremy Roenick added what might be his final nil goal an empty Netter with 212 seconds to play Avalanche 6 flames 3 Joe Samc scored the godhead goal in the third period giving him 100 Points for the first time since 2001 it was the first time in the avalanches 11 seasons in Denver that the team played a game with the playoffs out of their grasp nil scoreboard Eastern conference Buffalo new Jersey Atlanta Ottawa Pittsburgh any rangers Tampa Bay any l of pts 6f a 53 22 7 113 308 242 49 24 9 107 216 201 43 28 11 97 246 245 48 25 9 105 288 222 47 24 11 105 277 246 42 30 10 94 242 216 44 33 5 93 253 261 40 30 12 92 248 240 Toronto Montreal Carolina Florida Boston Washington 31 11 91 258 269 42 34 6 90 245 256 40 34 8 88 241 253 35 31 16 86 247 25 35 41 6 76 219 289 28 40 14 70 235 286 22 48 12 56 214 303 Western conference Detroit Anaheim Vancouver Nashville san Jose Dallas Minnesota 50 48 49 51 51 50 48 19 20 26 23 26 25 26 13 14 7 8 5 7 8 113 110 105 110 107 107 104 254 258 222 272 258 226 235 199 208 201 212 199 197 191 226 Colorado St Louis Columbus Edmonton Chicago los Angeles 34 33 32 31 27 35 42 43 42 41 13 7 7 9 14 81 73 71 71 68 214 201 195 201 227 254 249 248 258 283 284 two Points for a win one Point for Over time loss or shootout loss a cliched playoff spot clinched division clinched conference saturdays games Detroit 7 Chicago 2 Buffalo 2 Washington 0 by islanders 4 Philadelphia 2 Vancouver 4 san Jose 3 of los Angeles 3 Phoenix 2 Ottawa 6 Boston 3 Carolina 5 Florida 4 of Anaheim 4 Columbus 3 Toronto 6 Montreal 5 Atlanta 3 Tampa Bay 2 so Pittsburgh 2 by rangers 1 Minnesota 5 St Louis 1 Nashville 4 Colorado 2 Edmonton 3 Calgary 2 sundays games Dallas 3 Chicago 2 Philadelphia 4 Buffalo 3 by islanders 3 new Jersey 2 so Phoenix 3 Vancouver 1 Colorado 6 Calgary 3 end of regular season sunday stars 3 Blackhawk 2 Chicago 0 0 22 Dallas o 0 33 third period1 Dallas Morrow 16 Jokinen 2 Chicago Williams 15 Salme Lainen Chicago Bick Ell 2 Hamilton 4 Dallas Zug nov 12 Dallas Modano 22 Boucher shots on Goa Chicago 108624 Dallas 7151133 Power play opportunities Chicago 0 of 3 Dallas 1 of 4 goalie Chicago Khabibulin 25265 33 shots30 Dallas Turco 38205 a17932 flyers 4 sabres 3 Buffalo 1 2 03 Philadelphia l l 24 Host period1 Buffalo Vanek 43 Spacek Philadelphia Gagne 41 Knuble second Philadelphia Ruzycka 3 Coburn Buffalo Pominville 34 Drury 1532 5 Buffalo Roy 21 Vanek third period6 Philadelphia Knuble 24 7 Philadelphia Richards 10 Knuble shots on Goa Buffalo 912930 Philadel phia 10111233 Power play 0 of 2 Philadelphia 1 of4 goalie Buffalo Conklin 352 33 shots29 Philadelphia Biron 18123 a19027 t2o2 islanders 3 devils 2 Sony islanders 101 03 new Jersey 002 02 by islanders won shootout 21 first period1 by islanders park9 Tam Bellini third period2 by islanders Park 10 satan new Jersey Madden 11 Pandolfo 4v new Jersey Madden 12 Langenbrunne shootout tax islanders 2 satan g Kozlov g Smyth new Jersey 1 Parise g Gionta no Brylin shots on Galny islanders 996327 new Jersey Power play islanders 0 of 4 new Jersey 0 of 3 islanders Tubielewicz 410 24 shots22 new Jersey Clemmensen 112 a18111 coyotes 3 canucks 1 Vancouver 1 0 01 Phoenix 2 0 13 first period1 Phoenix Thomas 8 rein Precht Vancouver Burrows 3 Santala Phoenix Morris 6 Nolan third Phoenix Roenick 11 Doan shots on Phoenix 613827 Power play 0 of 5 Phoenix 2 of 6 goalie Vancouver Sabourin 241 26 shots24 Phoenix Joseph 18312 Hellqvist third a17406 Avalanche 6 flames 3 Calgary l 2 03 Colorado q 3 36 first Calgary Moss 10 Stuart second period2 Colorado Guite 3 Fin Ger Calgary Nilson 5 Yelle 4 Colorado Brunette 27 5 Calgary Yelle 10 Amonte Colorado Wolski 22 Sakic third period7 Colorado Sakic 36 Stastny 44 8 Colorado Parker 1 Guite Colorado Stastny 28 Heiduk shots on goal Calgary Colo Rado 4151332 Power play opportunities Calgary 0 of 4 Colorado 1 of 5 Mclennan 351 32 shots26 Colorado Theodore 13151 a17551 defending Champ Carolina left out of postseason by Joedy Mccreary the associated press Raleigh no there will be no Short summer struggles for the Carolina hurricanes this of season there Arent going to be any parades parties or Road trips with the Stanley cup either after becoming just the third team to win the cup and then miss the playoffs the next season last years champions now have five Long months to rest recover and Stew Over what went wrong we All think that we have the pieces in Here and the players in Here the personnel in Here to do better than we did defense Man Mike Commodore said Why if s disappointing its Tough if you have to take anything positive from it hopefully Guys use this disappointment to make them work a Little harder in the summer and that will Lead to bigger and better things next year the hurricanes 40348 closed their sour season saturday night with a Doolittle Toolate 54 overtime Victory Over Florida it was just the kind of Comerro behind Victory that was common expected Al most during Carolinas cup run a year ago those victories largely were absent this time from the beginning of the season when they opened with four straight losses All the Way through the end with the Stanley cup playoffs first round Besto seven Eastern conference Buffalo is by islanders thursday by islanders at Buffalo saturday by islanders at Buffalo monday Buffalo at by islanders wednesday april 18 Buffalo at by islanders Friday april 20 by islanders at Buffalo if necessary sunday april 22 Buffalo at by islanders if necessary tuesday april 24 by islanders at Buffalo if necessary new Jersey is Tampa Bay thursday Tampa Bay at new Jersey saturday Tampa Bay at new Jersey monday new Jersey at Tampa Bay wednesday april if new Jersey at Tampa Bay Friday april 20 Tampa Bay at new Jersey if necessary sunday april 22 new Jersey at Tampa Bay if necessary tuesday april 24 Tampa Bay at new Jersey if necessary Atlanta is by rangers thursday by rangers at Atlanta saturday by rangers at Atlanta tuesday april 17 Atlanta at by rangers wednesday april 18 Atlanta at by rangers Friday april 20 by rangers at Atlanta if necessary sunday april 22 Atlanta at by rangers if necessary monday april 23 by rangers at Atlanta if necessary Ottawa is Pittsburgh wednesday Pittsburgh at Ottawa saturday Pittsburgh at Ottawa sunday Ottawa at Pittsburgh tuesday april 17 Ottawa at Pittsburgh thursday april 19 Pittsburgh at Ottawa if necessary sunday april 22 Ottawa at Pittsburgh if necessary tuesday april 24 Pittsburgh at Ottawa if necessary hurricanes fading playoff Hopes in the bal Ance they lost four of five and fell out of the postseason Chase last year there was a lot of winning and we were Way out in front and that Cre ates fun coach Peter Laviolette said the Best Way to describe it is it seemed like we were chasing that this whole year we were chasing that fun and Chas ing that win and could never really get in Western conference Detroit is Calgary thursday Calgary at Detroit sunday Calgary at Detroit tuesday april 17 Detroit at Calgary thursday april 19 Detroit at Calgary saturday april 21 Calgary at Detroit if necessary sunday Panl 22 Detroit at Calgary if necessary tuesday april 24 Calgary at Detroit if necessary Anaheim is Minnesota wednesday Minnesota at Anaheim Friday Minnesota at Anaheim sunday Anaheim at Minnesota tuesday april 17 Anaheim at Minnesota thursday april 19 Minnesota at Anaheim if necessary saturday april 21 Anaheim at if necessary monday april 23 Minnesota at Anaheim if necessary Vancouver is Dallas wednesday Dallas at Vancouver Friday Dallas at Vancouver sunday Vancouver at Dallas tuesday april 17 Vancouver at Dallas thursday april 19 Dallas at Vancouver if necessary saturday april 21 Vancouver at Dallas if necessary monday april 23 Dallas at Vancouver if necessary Nashville is san Jose wednesday san Jose at Nashville Friday san Jose at Nashville monday Nashville at san Jose wednesday april 18 Nashville at san Jose Friday april 20 san Jose at Nashville if necessary sunday april 22 Nashville at san Jose if necessary tuesday april 24 san Jose at Nashville if necessary front of it or get a hold of it we kept trying but we were not Able to stay on top of that the exhilaration of winning the franchises first cup and All those enjoyable distractions that accompany a title took a toll this season with the Quick turn around keeping several key players from fully Healing before the championship ban Ner was raised and the first puck was dropped left Wing Cory Stillman and defens Eman Frantisek Kaberle missed multiple months after shoulder operations defens Eman Bret Hedican had operations on his hip and hand then had his season Cut Short with a hip problem the hurricanes lost 250 Man games to injury their third highest total since mov ing from Hartford in 1997 in not going to sit around and speculate on what if defens Eman David Tanabe said you show up every Day you put it All on the line every night that what you do and you live with it but there the injuries Are just a result of our game i think if s in the Effort i think if s in just showing up and giving it everything but i cant sit there and dwell on what ifs and what could have been and what should have been it is what it is now the key question is what the Hurri canes will look like when Camp opens in september among the big name players who Are unrestricted free agents include leading scorer Ray Whitney whom local writers selected team map after his 83point season and right Wing Scott Walker retirement is a possibility for aging de Fen semen Glen Wesley and Hedican both injured at seasons end youre going to see a different team not necessarily personnel but a different team come ready and hungry to play still Man said