SUNRISE, Fla. _ The playoff picture became clearer for the Islanders on Thursday night.
They no longer can finish first, as the Capitals clinched the Metropolitan Division with a 2-1 win over the Canadiens.
But the Islanders, who conclude their season Saturday night at Washington, are still very much fighting to finish in second place and gain home-ice advantage in the first round.
The Islanders won a 2-1, four-round shootout over the Panthers on Thursday night at BB&T Center and maintained a two-point lead on the Penguins. Brock Nelson scored the only goal of the shootout.
The Penguins beat the visiting Red Wings, 4-1, to clinch a postseason berth. The Hurricanes also clinched a playoff spot with a 3-1 win over the visiting Devils and still can finish in third place. They finish the season against the Rangers on Saturday.
The season series with the Penguins is tied and both teams have 42 ROW (regulation or overtime wins), which is the first tiebreaker. The Penguins likely will win the next tiebreaker of goal differential.
Thomas Greiss made 29 saves for the Islanders (47-27-7). Brock Nelson's one-timer from the slot off Michael Dal Colle's feed from the left boards gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead at 1:50 of the second period.
The Panthers (36-32-13), who will miss the playoffs for the third straight season, tied the game at 1 at 12:45 of the third period as Keith Yandle sprung Jonathan Huberdeau for a power-play goal with defenseman Thomas Hickey in the penalty box for the second time in the game. Goalie Sam Montembeault (35 saves) had the secondary assist.
The NHL playoffs open on Wednesday. The Islanders haven't had home-ice advantage for a playoff series since 1988, which was the last time they finished first in their division.
The Islanders entered Thursday night's game with it possible for them to finish anywhere from first place to fourth in the division.
But Islanders coach Barry Trotz, while acknowledging everybody on the team was aware of the standings and potential scenarios, was more concerned about the Panthers. The Islanders lost twice to them in the first six weeks of the season.
"There's no pressure," Trotz said of the Panthers. "You're not in the playoffs. They can do things. There's not really any consequence other than pride. I've been on teams where we didn't make the playoffs but we won eight of the last 10 and everybody is saying we will have a good year next year. It's a little bit of fool's gold because there's no pressure. Nobody is gripping their stick. They're all having fun and they know on the weekend they're going home."
But if the Panthers were playing loose, they kept the game against the Islanders tight. The Islanders outshot the Panthers, 17-4, in the first period, though they had few quality chances, but needed a video review to overturn an apparent goal at the buzzer as they escaped a brutal last-minute sequence.
Jordan Eberle turned the puck over and the Islanders then couldn't clear their zone, leading to Huberdeau's slapshot off the crossbar at 19:57. Aleksander Barkov appeared to tip the puck past Greiss at the right post with 0.1 seconds left _ it was ruled a goal on the ice _ but a video review determined the puck had not crossed the goal line.
The Islanders caught another break at 10:08 of the second period after defenseman Ryan Pulock's stick broke at the Panthers' blue line as he attempted a shot. Huberdeau got behind the Islanders' defense as he led a two-on-one rush, but his shot deflected off the left post.
