The Islanders season, which sputtered along coughing up plumes of smoke like a broken-down engine, finally came to an end with a 6-4 loss to the Lightning. Six months ago, they were envisioning the Stanley Cup.

They finish with a 37-35-10 record, and you wouldn’t blame them for being a little bit relieved that it’s over. 

“It’s a part of this group’s journey or story or whatever you want to call it,” Anders Lee said. “It’s part of our way to get where we want to go. It’s not going to be as linear as maybe we wanted it to be and expected it to be. Now it’s time to regroup.” 

Nico Ali Walsh entered the same ring where his grandfather, Muhammad Ali, shared some of his greatest moments.

And just like his grandfather, Ali Walsh exited the Madison Square Garden ring a winner.

Ali Walsh, 21, defeated Reyes Sanchez, to improve to 3-0 in his young boxing career. It was the first time one of his fights went the distance, coming out on top via majority decision. It marked the first loss of Sanchez’s career, who entered the night 6-0.

“It was an honor to fight here,” Ali Walsh said after the fight. “I’m just looking to build off every single fight. I’m looking to learn and improve every single fight. I’ve already reached the pinnacle having fought here.”

Fifty years after his grandfather’s famous “Fight of the Century” at MSG, another Ali has his Garden moment.

It’s Over For The Nets!

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Celtics completed a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs with a 116-112 victory Monday night.

Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists for the No. 2-seeded Celtics, who made easy work of what was thought could be a tough series. Boston will wait for the winner of the series between Milwaukee and Chicago, where the defending champion Bucks hold a 3-1 lead.

The Celtics showed no fear of the Nets, who with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving didn’t have the profile of the typical low seed. Boston won on the final day of the regular season instead of losing to fall down the standings and avoid the matchup.

Durant had 39 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, breaking free after the Celtics had defended him well in the first three games. But he  couldn’t get the Nets the win they needed to extend what instead goes  down as a massive failure of a season.