One-hundred-and-twenty minutes are left in this Islanders season, which has been most characterized by teetering, and their playoff aspirations are still hanging on the ever-so-tight thread of their own play. 

Teeter those aspirations did on Saturday, when the Islanders temporarily dipped below the cutline after the Penguins beat the Red Wings in the afternoon.

They jumped back into a playoff spot with their 4-0 victory Saturday night over the Flyers the result of which was without doubt by the second intermission. 

That left the third period for scoreboard watching, which did yield some drama. Matthew Tkachuk scored a late winner to haul the Panthers past the Capitals.

That brought a particularly inconvenient Florida winning streak to six games and kept the Panthers ahead of the Islanders for the first wild-card spot. 

At UBS Arena, the cheers were reserved for Hudson Fasching’s late Islanders goal and for Casey Cizikas, who returned to the game after blocking a shot off his left leg and going down in a heap. 

This particular seesaw is one the Islanders would rather not be on so late in the season.

The good news is that they need just three points in their final two games, at Washington on Monday and home against Montreal on Wednesday.

Should they lose in regulation in either, however, it could be a long Thursday in front of the television for the Islanders.

Both the Penguins and Panthers, their competition for the wild card spots, will finish their seasons that night. 

As for the Islanders’ victory over the Flyers, it started tilting heavily in their direction during the second period when quick-strike transition passing, melded with a heavy forecheck, limited Philadelphia to four shots over 20 minutes.

The Islanders scored twice in the same span. 

Noah Dobson found Brock Nelson with a laser of a feed that traveled from the Islanders’ own goal line diagonally to the red line.

It traversed the entire Flyers’ defense corps and let Nelson walk in alone for the 2-0 goal 7:50 into the second. 

After a power-play goal from Zach Parise was overturned due to a high stick, the Islanders wasted little time getting it back.

Samuel Bolduc pounced on Bo Horvat’s pass and unleashed a wrist shot for his second NHL goal and an unimpeachable 3-0 lead. 

Simon Holmstrom had his first assist in 46 games, dating to Nov. 25 in Columbus, then notched the secondary assist on Bolduc’s goal to finish with two. 

It was a good time for it. 

Scott Mayfield’s first-period shot from the point got the Islanders on the board first, though the Flyers largely controlled the opening 20 minutes.

Anders Lee was initially credited with a tip-in on a puck that changed direction after Mayfield’s wrister, but it was later determined that the shot hit a Flyer on its way in. 

Early in the game, the Islanders played with fire more than they might like early on, with their defense corps, minus the injured Alexander Romanov, rotating through pairs and struggling to break the puck out with some frequency.

The answer to those struggles, as all year, was goalie Ilya Sorokin, who finished with 27 saves and a league-leading sixth shutout. 

Mayfield’s goal, though, settled the Islanders, and they quickly settled into dominance from there. 

For all the tension of the playoff race, the Islanders have done their part, winning their last two games to stay above the cutline when nothing else would do. 

There are two more chances for the race to teeter some more, though the Islanders would rather see it hold taut.