Is it me or has the Eastern Conference playoff push become a turtle race?

Only two teams seem to be playing with any kind of momentum right now - the Rangers and the *gasp* Panthers.....
(though I think it's very much a "too little, too late" situation for Florida)

What the heck is going on here?

Tampa is in for now, but don't appear to be worried about playing too well.
Carolina is stumbling along....missing Cam Ward?
The Islanders....well they are missing DiPietro for sure ....maybe Simon too.
Montreal and Toronto both seem to not want to make a run.....okay the Habs are missing Huet, the Leafs Kaberle.
Boston just keeps shooting themselves in the foot.....(and like Florida they appear to be dead)

But while we are making excuses for some teams about missing players, the Rangers are missing Shanahan fer cryin' out loud.....

Right now there are only 4 points separating 6th place from 11th place:



Any thoughts on who will finally take the last 3 spots in the East?

I hardly think the Leafs are stumbling along....They will get in along with Tampa Bay and the Rangers

4-5-1 in the last 10 isn't stumbling along?

actually yes...they have played much better with Tucker and Wellwood back...

4-5-1 in their last 10 games ain't exactly lighting the world on fire....

The Rangers look good right now as Lundqvist is very hot for them.
Tampa still has to worry about giving up goals, they'll go as far as their offense will carry them.
....and if the Islanders get DiPietro back, they can be dangerous.

Lots of "ifs" out there....

The Leafs have shown they will come to play in big games...Today they played a very good game especially in the second half....

Islanders are toast....Rangers still have issues...


Itst Tampa,Toronto and Carolina

Dude... 19 minutes apart and you contradict yourself...

Does it matter ...who cares who else gets in...

The Leafs are getting in...Just worry about your stupid furry little Penguins.

lol

I wish them good luck, they are one of my favorite non-Penguin teams due to proximity, and them being my Dad's favorite team growing up, however, I don't like their chances.

Dude, I don't care how many "issues" they have - Lundqvist has given up only 13 goals in his last 8 games!
He's only lost once in regulation over that span.
If he stays this hot, the Rangers are a shoo-in.
And it looks like Shanny may be back soon too....

Carolina is one team I can't figure out....they appear to be too good to be struggling, yet they are.

You should listen to your dad...He is a smart man...You have gone to the dark side...Its not too late to come back.

As a side note - when was the last time BOTH of the previous year's Stanley Cup finalists failed to make the playoffs the following year???

It sure looks like it could happen this year....

The Rangers are in. No doubt about it. They are finally starting to play like the winning team last season that relied on superstar goaltending and great defense. Lundqvist is the real deal.

AGAIN, HOW SICK ARE MY AHL GOALIES!!!!! All my guys are on fire right. 4 goalies in the top 10 Lundqvist, Luongo, Nabakov, and Toskala. Back to back shutouts and a GAA under 1.00 during the AHL playoffs.

Wow....unless my Google skills are failing me, this has NEVER happened.
Never, in the history of the NHL, have both of the Cup finalists not made the playoffs the following year.
We may have a historic event this year.

...and yes Daniel, your goalies ARE sick!

The Rangers will go as far as Lundqvist takes them, without Shanahan the Rangers rely too much on the Jagr line.

The Hurricanes have been streaky all year, but they need Ward back if they are gonna make the playoffs.

The Habs need Halak to play like he played tonight for the rest of the year to make the playoffs.

The Leafs probably have the toughest schedule to end the season. They can't afford to play like they did against Washington or they won't make the playoffs.

The Islanders need to get Dipietro back, Dunham can't stop a beach ball.

Daniel, have I mentioned that your AHL goalies are sick?

Okay, how about some fearless predictions?

In:
Tampa - 7 home games, 3 road games; only 5 playoff teams to face - an easy schedule should get them in.
Rangers - riding Lundqvist, and the return of Shanahan puts them over the top. They also have the easiest schedule - the only playoff team they face over their last 10 games is Pittsburgh, twice.
Carolina - only 4 playoff opponents in their last 9 games - they should just squeak in on that schedule

Out:
Islanders - 8 of their last 11 games are against playoff teams - their schedule is their worst enemy
Toronto - 7 of their last 10 are against playoff teams - a tough schedule and too many teams to beat will cause them to fall just short - AGAIN!
Montreal - only 4 playoff teams to face in their 9 remaining games. If they can beat up on Boston (3 games) they MIGHT be able to nip Carolina out for the last playoff spot. (but I doubt it....)

Good news for all the chasers with Tampa getting whupped by the Capitals today 7-1.
Maybe the Caps will be the mega-spoilers this year??
They still play Montreal, Carolina and Tampa one more time.

Also the Flyers can definitely cause some pain as they play the Rangers and Islanders each twice and the Leafs and Carolina once.

Florida also gets to try and derail Tampa and Carolina - they play them twice more each

Florida does get to play spoiler, their realistic chances of getting in are gone but hopefully they'll still play hard.

Speaking of Rangers, I was at Saturday's game when they blew out Boston 7-0, and it was pretty entertaining. Without a few of their great players, including Shanahan and with Straka being hurt in the first period, they were able to put on an amazing show and showed that they have the drive and passion to make a real run at the playoffs. With Shanny returning hopefully in a game or two, some strong players stepping up (Avery, Cullen, Nylander), Lundqvist being probably in the top two best goaltenders of the league, and of course Jagr, I think they have a good chance. I just hope we don't get blown out if we actually make the playoffs like last year.

ps. the above signature picture is pretty amazing!!!

The Rangers really helped themselves by beating Sid the Kid and the Pens last night.
I really think the weak link in the current #6-8 teams is Carolina.
Next would be Tampa, they have proven to be defensively suspect and that could be their downfall.

Another big night tonight for the East "Bubble" teams:
Boston at Montreal
NY Islanders at Tampa Bay
New Jersey at Toronto

I'm not sure if he's top 10 even

Update time.....

Then:


Now:


Every team has gained some ground except the Leafs and Carolina:

Tampa: 4 points in 3 games
Carolina won their only game, but lost ground due to other team's games in hand.
NY Rangers: 6 points in winning all 3 of their games - remaining red hot.
NY Islanders: 5 points in 3 games
Toronto: 2 points in 2 games - losing to Buffalo after being up 4-1 in the 3rd really hurt them
Montreal: 4 points in 2 games

It looks more and more like the only battle will be for 8th as Tampa and the Rangers continue to look strong.
Carolina will have to rely on it's weak schedule to help them pull ahead of the Islanders who have a much tougher one.
The Habs and Leafs both have uphill battles. The Leafs especially are on life support as their hard schedule makes it almost impossible to gain ground, especially against now 3 teams for them to beat.

I'd say top 5.

Just make sure the Rangers don't play the Devils in the first round again this year. That was one of the worst let down series ever. I though it was going to be a battle instead of the cakewalk that it was.

And....everybody wins today - except Tampa...
Still very, very close - 4 points from 6th to 11th.

Interesting that the Leafs will face all 4 teams directly ahead of them once each.
They almost need to run the table to hope to get in, and may need some help as well.
The good news for them is that they have the Sabres games behind them - now it looks as though the Islanders may have the toughest schedule left.

I think 92 points will be bare minimum to get in - the Leafs would need at least 5 wins in 7 games to have a prayer.
The Habs need at least 4 wins in 6 games left, the Islanders 5 out of 8.

It should be a fun ride from here on in.

That was hilarious....All those years of missing the playoffs entirely only to make it in and get swept by the Devils. I couldn't have scripted it any better myself.

I think we can agree that Brodeur, Kiprusoff, and Luongo are the top 3. after that it becomes a little more distorted. I'd personally take Vokoun, Nabokov, Toskala (yes I'm a Sharks fan), Ryan Miller, Giguere, and probably even DiPietro and Turco before Lundquist.

Yeah, I would not put Nabokov, Toskala, Giguere, or DiPierto ahead of Lundqvist. Top 7 I suppose

Kipper = overrated.

FYP

Neither is Tim Thomas.

Huh?

Okay, maybe top two was a bit of an exaggeration from a Rangers fan. He's pretty darn good, though, and is the reason that the Rangers are doing so well toward the end of the playoff race.

I suck at trying to be funny, that's all.

Games Remaining:


New York Rangers (6)
87 points
Mar 27 @ Montreal
Mar 31 @ Philadelphia
Apr 1 vs Toronto
Apr 3 @ NY Islanders
Apr 5 vs Montreal
Apr 7 @ Pittsburgh

Tampa Bay (6)
86 points
Mar 27 vs Florida
Mar 30 @ Carolina
Mar 31 vs Washington
Apr 3 vs Carolina
Apr 6 vs Florida
Apr 7 @ Atlanta

Carolina (7)
84 points
Mar 27 @ Toronto
Mar 28 @ Philadelphia
Mar 30 vs Tampa Bay
Apr 1 @ Florida
Apr 3 @ Tampa Bay
Apr 6 vs Atlanta
Apr 7 vs Florida

New York Islanders (7)
84 points
Mar 27 vs New Jersey
Mar 30 @ Buffalo
Mar 31 vs Ottawa
Apr 3 vs NY Rangers
Apr 5 vs Toronto
Apr 7 @ Philadelphia
Apr 8 @ New Jersey

Montreal (6)
84 points
Mar 27 vs NY Rangers
Mar 30 @ Ottawa
Mar 31 vs Buffalo
Apr 3 vs Boston
Apr 5 @ NY Rangers
Apr 7 @ Toronto

Toronto (7)
82 points
Mar 27 vs Carolina
Mar 29 @ Atlanta
Mar 31 vs Pittsburgh
Apr 1 @ NY Rangers
Apr 3 vs Philadelphia
Apr 5 @ NY Islanders
Apr 7 vs Montreal


3 spots and 6 teams...my money is on NY Rangers, Tampa Bay and Carolina. The Division winners should be worried about the teams that grab the final 3 playoff spots (assuming Carolina doesn't pass Atlanta) because these 6 teams are playing playoff hockey NOW!


March 27
Go Montreal!
Go Florida!
Go New Jersey!
Go Toronto!

my heart says Carolina, Montreal and Toronto. With honourable mention to NYI.

But I would go with Rangers, Lightning and Canes as well.
I might have said the Islanders, but thats a fairly tough schedule over the last 7games, with 5 against Ottawa, Buffalo, NJ and NYR.

Rangers, and Lundqvist specifially, look like a a near lock to make it now. God how I hate them.

Watch out for Carolina if they make it, cause for the first time all year they are very close to firing on all cylinders and have played great the last few games. Even Staal looks like he might be waking up. In a 7game series, they could knock off anyone, Buffalo and Ottawa included.

In addition to digitalmonkey's post the teams that have the most "control" on who makes it in are:

Toronto 4 of 7 vs teams in the hunt
NewY R 4 of 6
Car H 3 of 7
Mtl C 3 of 6
NyI 2 of 7
Tampa 2 of 6

Looks like the Islanders are in the worst position with some really tough games ahead, 2 vs NJD and one against Buff and Ott.

Tuesdays games should make things allot clearer. Montreal and Toronto are pretty much toast if they don't win there respective games. As well the Islanders are in deep trouble is the loose to NJD and TO, MTL and TB win. Should be an interesting night of scoreboard watching.

The Leafs are in serious trouble because they have to pass 3 teams and those teams have some games against each other. That guarantees some of the teams ahead of the Leafs will be picking up points in those games. The Leafs almost have to beat Carolina, Montreal and the Islanders to even have a shot.

Actually those 3 teams you mention, the Canes, Habs and Islanders actually never meet each other - so that is "some" good news for the Leafs.

So the Leafs need to beat them in those head to head games and also they need Tampa and the Rangers (who they likely can't catch) to also beat up on those 3 teams. Tampa plays Carolina twice; the Rangers play Montreal twice and the Islanders once.

Actually, depending on how things go, the Leafs may want to switch to hoping to beat Tampa - and hope Carolina beats up on the Bolts.
But realistically, it would take a pretty big Tampa collapse for that to happen.

There's just so many ways this could go yet.....nobody is really safe or out of it yet.

I'd be willing to get some money down at the right odds of at least 50% of ALL THESE TEAMS REMAINING GAMES going into overtime with each team earning at least one point..

I agree with you, there seems to be more than a normal amount of these games that go to Overtime...

A lot of people hate Bob Mckeown from the FAN 590 in Toronto..However his system is interesting...


its called 4-3-2-1...

4pts for a regulation win
3pts for an OT WIN
2pts for a shootout win
1pt for an OT/shootout loss..

I am pretty sure thats how it goes...correct me if I am wrong.

No. We don't need more points or to further confuse the system. Baseball doesn't give out points for extra innings, football doesn't, basketball doesn't, soccer doesn't - I hate the current system as it is, let's not add more points.

How about 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and no points for a loss?

One extra 10 minute period of sudden death 4 on 4. No shootout.

I was thinking of some nightmarish scenario where the Leafs were trailing Montreal by one point coming into the final game of the season between them.

The kicker? - Because Montreal has two more wins than the Leafs, if the Leafs win in OT or Shootout, they tie Montreal in points, but lose on wins....

The game goes late into the 3rd period tied....the Leafs knowing that an OT/SO win is no good, are forced to pull the goalie to try and win the game in regulation.......

Welcome to the "NewNHL"......

On the points system? - 2 points for a win, 0 points for a loss....whatever kind of loss!

I don't think I'd mind if the NHL adopted the MLB format of having teams listed in the standings by winning %.

We all know that you get zero points for an overtime loss if you pull the goalie. Now that adds yet another dimention to the final games of the season for the six teams involved. Isl-NJD play at 1 pm, do the pull the goalie in OT if tied with Montreal or Toronto to get the two points? could be interesting.

The Islanders are in trouble.

Yeah, that's rough.
DiPietro was playing so good, he almost could have pulled the team into the playoffs himself.
Without him, it's going to be really hard for the Isles - especially with their schedule.
Tough break.

this is absolute insanity. please take your crazy pills elsewhere.

i actually think this whole "overtime loss" thing is a failed experiment as well. get rid of it, and lets get back to hockey. i can agree with 10-minute overtimes instead, though the NHLPA would probably have a fit.