Eastern Conference Wild Card Watch

[VivaLasVegas]

I hope they bring back that gladiator from 15 years ago to celebrate this feat.

I wonder if that outfit still fits him.

Sort of.

 

[waffledave]

Look, all of us here frankly deserve to see Hutson in the playoffs. Can he keep it up? Will his lack of size finally catch up with him? You can hate the Habs all you want but cmon you can't say you don't wish deep down that you can see this kid will light it up as a rookie in the post-season. Hes 4 feet tall and 110 lbs. You are lying to yourself if you don't want to experience that feel good story.

 

[SpezDispenser]

I don’t even know what the hell you’re trying to say.

I understood it perfectly.

 

[JianYang]

I don’t even know what the hell you’re trying to say.

You said 2 teams are backing in but I'm saying Ottawa is clearly home and cooled.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

You said 2 teams are backing in but I'm saying Ottawa is clearly home and cooled.

Okay. That’s what I thought you meant. Thanks.

 

[Sensatauro]

I don’t even know what the hell you’re trying to say.

Man's name checks out. The education systems failed you

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Man's name checks out. The education systems failed you

How do you spell education?

 

[voyageur]

I didn't say you I said the NHL would like a marquee matchup to compete with NBA.

I figure San Jose with Georgiev would be a free pass. Wild are not playing good hockey right now, having some troubles scoring and in net. Devils are not bearing down on anybody. That's probably 3 of the easier games to win at this time of year. If the Rangers win them, and beat Philly, pressure will be on Montreal to keep pace.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

The 'Biggest Losers' group of MTL, NYR, CBJ, NYI and DET are very unlikely to produce 2 teams with 89+ points. Maybe one of them gets 88 or 89 points.

They are also unlikely to have two of the teams catch Ottawa in regulation wins (NYR is ahead, but the rest probably won't), which means Ottawa has 9 games to get the remaining 4-5 points needed to make the playoffs. Combine this with their very easy schedule (games against Chicago, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Blue Jackets x2, and Habs), and 8 of their 9 remaining games being at home (.750 points %) - that's why the professionals have us at a 99.5% playoff chance. Could probably go 2-7 at this point and make it with how crap it's been under them.

If every team below the sens have the exact same record as their L10, the Sens could probably make the playoffs if they lost all their remaining games...

 

[Dubi Doo]

I hope they bring back that gladiator from 15 years ago to celebrate this feat.

I wonder if that outfit still fits him.

I didn't realize I wanted the Sens to make the playoffs so badly until I read this post. That would be amazing.

 

[Dubi Doo]

With how close this race is and everyone playing below .500 hockey in their last 10, it just makes me wonder how the Sabres aren't in this race after all their years of tanking.

It's a sad joke. The WC1 and WC2 spots in the East always seem to be painfully average-to-mediocre teams. This year seems no different, though maybe the Sens get hot. They've been streaky. But yeah, it goes to show you how pitiful the Sabres have been. I mean- they have the longest playoff drought by 5 YEARS! Making the playoffs in the NHL is not that hard.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

If every team below the sens have the exact same record as their L10, the Sens could probably make the playoffs if they lost all their remaining games...

That would be crazy.

I’ve never seen a race like this. Every single team fighting for WC2 is struggling. Usually, this would take a team out of the race, but since they’re all universally deciding to lose games, they all have a shot.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Looks like battle of Ontario round 1

 

[Lshap]

As a Habs fan, this a great sign for the team. They've been improving steadily for the the last three seasons, and currently sit in the WC2 spot as the 2nd youngest roster in the league. Playoffs would be fun if they make it, but no matter the outcome, Montreal's already ahead of schedule.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDoo]

Look, all of us here frankly deserve to see Hutson in the playoffs. Can he keep it up? Will his lack of size finally catch up with him? You can hate the Habs all you want but cmon you can't say you don't wish deep down that you can see this kid will light it up as a rookie in the post-season. Hes 4 feet tall and 110 lbs. You are lying to yourself if you don't want to experience that feel good story.

A Lane Hutson - Tom Wilson fight is what I'm hoping for.

 

[Mr Positive]

That would be crazy.

I’ve never seen a race like this. Every single team fighting for WC2 is struggling. Usually, this would take a team out of the race, but since they’re all universally deciding to lose games, they all have a shot.

Usually someone would nab that spot. Look out west. There's slumping play by teams wanting that last spot, but the Blues got hot and ended the wild card race. It's not official but the west playoff teams and even the matchups are pretty set.

Out east there aren't even any eliminated teams yet. Realistically any of those 5 teams from 8-12 could get that last spot

 

[swiftwin]

St. Louis already has 87 points and they're WC2 in the west. Wild stuff

That's because the West sucks.

Everyone is saying the East sucks, but in reality, the WC2 spot is going to make the playoffs with <90pts because all the teams are cannibalizing points from eachother because there are no bottom barrel rebuilding teams like Chicago, San Jose and Anaheim.

 

[Suntouchable13]

I didn't say you I said the NHL would like a marquee matchup to compete with NBA.

I figure San Jose with Georgiev would be a free pass. Wild are not playing good hockey right now, having some troubles scoring and in net. Devils are not bearing down on anybody. That's probably 3 of the easier games to win at this time of year. If the Rangers win them, and beat Philly, pressure will be on Montreal to keep pace.

Rangers don’t have much of a chance. Everybody has games in hand on them. One of these teams will win their games in hand and it’s over. They don’t control their own destiny.

 

[Power Surge]

Rangers don’t have much of a chance. Everybody has games in hand on them. One of these teams will win their games in hand and it’s over. They don’t control their own destiny.

I'm not counting the Rangers out yet but losing to the Ducks was pretty costly.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Rangers don’t have much of a chance. Everybody has games in hand on them. One of these teams will win their games in hand and it’s over. They don’t control their own destiny.

Only the Habs and Blue Jackets have games in hand on them that provide enough possible points to lift them over the Rangers, but we're talking about teams who have points percentages of .527 (MTL) and .521 (CBJ) and have comfortably below-.500 regulation records. They aren't doing well in their last 5-10 games, either. These aren't good teams, there's no real reason to assume they're going to take care of their games in hand.

Now, looking at the schedules, the Habs have the inside track on paper because they have the best home/away split left (6 home, 3 away, vs. 6/4 for CBJ and 4/4 for NYR) and their remaining opponents only have an average of 76.4 points this season, while for the Jackets that number is 83.4 and 85.3 for the Rangers.

At the same time, the Rangers are the only team that's a legit .500 (32-32-10 in regulation with a +6 GD) while the Habs are 25-30-18 (-26) and the Jackets are 23-30-19 (-9). But with only two non-playoff teams left on their schedule, they have their work cut out for them. They're playing the Hurricanes and Lightning and Devils while the Habs are playing the Flyers and Bruins and Preds...they would do amazingly well to keep up.

 

[BradyTkachucky]

I want the Sens and BJs to make it.

Sens and BJs is all a man can ask for

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

Rangers don’t have much of a chance. Everybody has games in hand on them. One of these teams will win their games in hand and it’s over. They don’t control their own destiny.

Columbus being 2 points behind Rangers with 2 games in hand is kind of a tie, they have more upside if they win both but also don't have the guaranteed 2 points. Montreal has slight edge for best position.