NHL Playoff Push – Final 12 days
by oiler on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 at 09:39am
| Eastern Conference Playoff Race | |||
| TEAM | GR | PTS | WINS |
| NYR | 5 | 87 | 39 |
| TB | 5 | 86 | 41 |
| MON | 5 | 86 | 38 |
| CAR | 6 | 84 | 38 |
| TOR | 6 | 84 | 37 |
| NYI | 6 | 84 | 36 |
The three teams who sit in 9 through 11 all have 6 games left, while 6 through 8 all have 5 remaining. The 9 through 11 group sits just two points out, so essentially if all three of them were to win their next game, we could have a 5 way tie for the last 2 spots.
But the Islanders are all put gone. They have the fewest wins of any of these six and have enough roster problems to have sealed their fate. So that leaves the Leafs, Canes, Habs, Bolts, and Rangers.
While I’ve seen crazier things happen, the Rangers are playing the best hockey of this group (almost erased a 5-1 third period deficit last night) and since they sit 1 point ahead, I think they’ll get in.
Meanwhile, in Tampa, head coach John Tortorella has guaranteed a playoff birth for his team. The Lightning played well in last night’s loss to Florida, but just couldn’t finish their chances. They have a huge matchup in Carolina on Friday night and then play the Canes again the following Tuesday. I think they will be in as well.
So that leaves one final spot for Montreal, Toronto, and Carolina. The Canes are 3-2-1 against Tampa Bay this season. They also play Florida twice and are 5-1-0 against the Panthers this season. The biggest obstacle for Carolina might just be their own travel schedule. They have two back to back game nights remaining, including tonight’s match in Philadelphia, and are just 5-7-1 this season with 0 days rest.
The Leafs have a balanced schedule ahead of them, alternating road and home games with ATL, PIT, NYR, PHI, NYI, and MON. It may just come down to that Saturday night season finale against the Habs at the Air Canada Centre.
Finally, there’s Montreal, who has won 5 games in a row and 7 of their last 8 to vault back into a playoff spot. They’ve got Ottawa and Buffalo on back to back nights Friday and Saturday, and are 5-9-0 with no rest. The Habs are 3-3-1 against the Sens this year but have lost 2 straight to them. Against Buffalo, the Canadiens are 3-2-2. Montreal will then get Boston at home before finishing the season on the road at MSG and at ACC.