If the New York Islanders were in the Western Conference, they already would be preparing to host playoff games.

If the Los Angeles Kings were in the Eastern Conference, they likely would have spent the trade deadline looking toward the future instead of loading up for a postseason push.

Thanks to geography, both teams will be in the position of trying to bolster their playoff chances Friday night when the Islanders host the Kings in Elmont, N.Y.

Both have been off since playing overtime road games on Tuesday. The Islanders overcame a three-goal deficit to edge the St. Louis Blues 4-3 and the Kings fell 2-1 to the Boston Bruins.

Mathew Barzal’s winner allowed the Islanders to salvage a split of a four-game road trip (2-2-0) and become the first NHL team to win its first 10 overtime decisions.

The 2021 Vegas Golden Knights went 9-0 in overtime during the pandemic-shortened 56-game season.

More importantly, the two points ensured the Islanders would remain in a playoff spot. New York entered Thursday tied for second in the Metropolitan Division with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 79 points apiece, three ahead of the surging Columbus Blue Jackets.

“This was an important game,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “Winning that one makes a big difference because every team in our division got a point today.”

The Islanders are tied with the wild card-leading Detroit Red Wings and are one point ahead of the Bruins. The Penguins, Blue Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins all play Thursday night.

The Blue Jackets climbed out of last place in the East and gained seven points on the Islanders by going 14-2-3 since hiring Rick Bowness as head coach on Jan. 12. New York is 12-8-0 in the same span.

The playoff race the Kings are involved in is decidedly less heated.

With 67 points, Los Angeles entered Thursday in a tie with the Seattle Kraken for the West’s second wild-card spot. The Kraken had a game in hand ahead of their clash with the league-leading Colorado Avalanche.

That point total would place the Kings and Kraken in a tie for 13th in the East. The Islanders would have the fourth-most points in the West and the most in the Pacific Division.

The Kings have lost eight of 11 since Feb. 1, a stretch in which they acquired left winger Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers and center Scott Laughton from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Panarin has eight points in eight games with Los Angeles, while Laughton has three points in as many games.

Los Angeles is 2-2-1 since March 1, when head coach Jim Hiller was fired and replaced by D.J. Smith.

The inconsistency stretches further back for the Kings, who have won consecutive games just three times since the start of December. The Islanders have seven separate winning streaks in the span.

The Kings had a chance to win a second straight game Tuesday despite collecting just 16 shots, their third fewest in a game this season. Drew Doughty forced overtime by scoring with six minutes left before Charlie McAvoy scored 39 seconds into the extra session for the Bruins.

“We showed resilience and heart tonight,” Doughty said. “We played hard. We got a point against a really good team and can take some positives, but clearly we need to look at the negatives and fix those things.”

–Field Level Media

NASHVILLE – Nate Ament led No. 25 Tennessee in points (27), rebounds (eight), assists (four) and blocks (three) in his return to action as the Volunteers’ late 20-0 run earned them a 72-62 win over Auburn in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday.

Ja’Kobi Gillespie added 15 points and a team-leading three steals for No. 5 seed Tennessee (22-10), which got Ament back after he missed the prior two games with a leg injury.

Tahaad Pettiford scored 28 points but also committed five turnovers for the 12th-seeded Tigers (17-16).

Tennessee trailed most of the game but put on a defensive clinic late, with the Vols’ full-court man making it tough for the Tigers to muster a decent shot.

The one good look that the Tigers got during the 20-0 run was the front end of a one-and-one, which Keyshawn Hall missed with 4:27 left. Auburn was held scoreless for 7:36, missing seven straight shots and committing four turnovers during the drought.

The blitz started when the Volunteers got eight straight points from Ament and tied the game for the first time since the 16:24 mark of the first half when Gillespie hit a fastbreak layup off an Ament assist on a possession that originated with a Felix Okpara block.

After an Auburn time out, Amari Evans hit a free throw with 6:30 left to give Tennessee the lead.

Auburn then turned it over and Jaylen Carey put back his own miss to extend the lead to three.

A Gillespie steal and fastbreak layup forced another Auburn time out with 5:31 left. The Tigers never got closer than that again.

Auburn, not known for its defense, took a 32-25 halftime lead by holding Gillespie to three points and Tennessee to 37% shooting. The Tigers also outrebounded the Volunteers 21-15 in the first period.

Pettiford (16 first-half points) hit a turnaround jumper with 3:12 remaining in the first half to give Auburn its biggest lead at 29-18.

Tennessee advances to play No. 4 seed Vanderbilt (24-7) in Friday’s quarterfinals in a rematch of last Saturday’s regular-season finale, which the Commodores won.

The Tigers will await their NCAA Tournament fate. ESPN’s bracketology had Auburn had the first team in its latest update prior to this loss.

This loss drops the Tigers to 4-13 in Quad 1 games. A team with 16 losses, like Auburn has this season, has never earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

– Chris Lee, Field Level Media

The Portland Trail Blazers are out to complete a four-game season sweep of the visiting Utah Jazz when the teams match up Friday night.

Portland averaged 136 points in the first three meetings, including a 20-point home victory on Jan. 5 and a 16-point road win on Feb. 12. The Trail Blazers also won by two on Oct. 29 in Salt Lake City.

Portland could use a victory as a five-game road trip awaits. The Trail Blazers are in 10th place in the Western Conference, just 1 1/2 games behind the Golden State Warriors and 2 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers.

Portland has just 16 games remaining, adding a sense of urgency.

“We’ve got the players to do it,” veteran forward Jerami Grant said. “We’ve just gotta come together. Now that mostly everybody’s healthy, we should be able to string together some wins in these upcoming weeks.”

The Trail Blazers missed an opportunity Tuesday when they led the visiting Charlotte Hornets by 19 points in the second quarter before eventually losing 103-101.

Portland forward Toumani Camara felt the Trail Blazers were their own worst enemy in blowing the big lead.

“Everything was under our control,” Camara said. “I feel like we had some stupid turnovers, couldn’t make shots, but you know, that happens. (We could’ve) controlled the pace a little bit better. I feel like we let them kinda creep up on us a little too easily. I feel like we didn’t really put up a fight like we should’ve.”

Grant scored 24 points and Deni Avdija added 22 to lead Portland.

Backup Scoot Henderson had 17 points and made five 3-pointers for his second straight big performance. He had a season-best 28 points in Sunday’s 131-111 rout of the visiting Indiana Pacers.

The Jazz are beginning a three-game road trip that includes stops in Sacramento and Minnesota.

Utah has split its last four games, falling 134-117 to the visiting New York Knicks on Wednesday.

The Jazz came out firing and led 41-26 after the opening quarter but their defense was missing in action the rest of the way as New York scored 108 points over the final three quarters. The Knicks outscored Utah 78-52 in the second half.

“Sort of a tale of two halves,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “We came out to start the game and couldn’t be hotter, so we dictated the tempo. In the second half, they got hot and we had to start playing more against a set defense and it hurt us.”

Brice Sensabaugh made a season-best six 3-pointers and scored 29 points for Utah. It was his straight solid performance as he scored 21 points in Monday’s 119-116 home victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Sensabaugh is averaging 20.3 points over the last four games.

Rookie Ace Bailey added 21 points against New York and has excelled in two of his past three games. Bailey had 32 against the Washington Wizards on March 5 but just nine two nights later versus the Milwaukee Bucks before missing the Golden State game due to illness.

Standout guard Keyonte George could be sitting out Friday after leaving in the third quarter against the Knicks due to a right hamstring injury.

George had 14 points in 20 minutes before exiting. He averages 23.6 points and 6.1 assists per game.

Utah has dropped five of the last six meetings with the Trail Blazers.

–Field Level Media