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Playoff race/Scoreboard watching thread

Friday worked out well. We have a tough challenge on our hands tonight. We had to travel across the border last night after a tough, energy draining OT game to play a rested good rival Sens who are playing well and want to truly lock in that WC1 spot. Our Saturday Scoreboard Watching starts in the afternoon...

Isles at Bolts @ 2PM: Bolts in playoff mode and all three Atlantic teams in then hunt for their number one seed It looks like the Bolts, Leafs and Cats are gonna be playing harder til the end of the season than usual for teams that have locked up a playoff spot. Not sure I have seen a race like that one in a while. I know anything can happen in any game but like our chances in this one.

Devils @ Wild @ 6PM: I know catching the Devils is a long shot but as long as there is a chance it is worth keeping tabs. Eight points behind with three games in hand. Crazier things have happened.

Bruins @ Wings @ 8PM: I feel like it's a tough climb for the Wings but until they are "done" (see what I did there), I am not considering them done. Bruins have lost four in a row so this might be a chance for the Wings to right their ship.

Rangers @ Sharks 10:30PM: Whoo boy this is another game I won't know the results of until the next morning. Rangers playing back to back and Sharks are not so they could give the Sharks some help plus they have won two in a row! I think the Rangers are our biggest obstacle to WC2, they have us clearly beat on the top tie breaker so we have to out point them. Let's go Sharks.
 
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Doggy said:
Friday worked out well. We have a tough challenge on our hands tonight. We had to travel across the border last night after a tough, energy draining OT game to play a rested good rival Sens who are playing well and want to truly lock in that WC1 spot. Our Saturday Scoreboard Watching starts in the afternoon...

Isles at Bolts @ 2PM: Bolts in playoff mode and all three Atlantic teams in then hunt for their number one seed It looks like the Bolts, Leafs and Cats are gonna be playing harder til the end of the season than usual for teams that have locked up a playoff spot. Not sure I have seen a race like that one in a while. I know anything can happen in any game but like our chances in this one.

Devils @ Wild @ 6PM: I know catching the Devils is a long shot but as long as there is a chance it is worth keeping tabs. Eight points behind with three games in hand. Crazier things have happened.

Bruins @ Wings @ 8PM: I feel like it's a tough climb for the Wings but until they are "done" (see what I did there), I am not considering them done. Bruins have lost four in a row so this might be a chance for the Wings to right their ship.

Rangers @ Sharks 10:30PM: Whoo boy this is another game I won't know the results of until the next morning. Rangers playing back to back and Sharks are not so they could give the Sharks some help plus they have won two in a row! I think the Rangers are our biggest obstacle to WC2, they have us clearly beat on the top tie breaker so we have to out point them. Let's go Sharks.
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At this point I'm rooting for the devils, it would be nice to have the 3rd spot, but at this point I think best case scenario is we make the playoffs and Minnesota continues a free fall all the way out of the playoffs. We should also be rooting for Vancouver for the rest of the season as they are the closest team to getting back into the wildcard spot in the West, hopefully at the expense of Minnesota.
 
DarkandStormy said:
The East is so bad lol

Teams that are NHL-.500 are still "in it."

Seems like first to, say, 88 points gets WC2.
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I guess it is all relative. Is the East "so bad" or is just more balanced? The CBJ just played the Canucks, both teams are on the cusp of a playoff spot and the 'Nucks have six more points than us. Did you think the Canucks were a vastly better team than the Blue Jackets? I didn't think so. The Flames? Nah. The Wild (they beat us twice...damn lucky they got us early in the season before they went in the crapper and we figured out our identity)?

The records don't reflect that the East doesn't have the luxury of playing Chicago and San Jose and Nashville as many times as the Western teams do. The team with the worst point percentage in the East (Buffalo) would be fourth worst in the West (1/1000 of a percentage point away from being fifth worst). We picked up 10 of 14 points against those four teams...if only we could have doubled the number of games played against them like those mighty teams in the Western Conference.

Look at Buffalo, team has Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka, Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Josh Norris, Bowen Byram, etc. Chicago has Bedard and...Donato, Teravainen and Bertuzzi? Which team would you rather play. Is that even a discussion?

I am not saying the East is dominant and the West sucks, just that it's probably significantly more equal than how you present it.
 
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Sunday scoreboard watching (because today I am watching pickleball) :)

Habs @ Panthers at 1PM: Go Cats! That Atlantic Division is tight...Cats need the win!
Isles @ Canes at 5PM: Go Canes! Canes are 8-2 in last ten...keep winning boys!
Go home teams.

Habs and Cats tied 1-1.
 
Habs beat the panthers. We’re now 2.5 points back.

10 games to go for us

We probably need to win 7 or 8 to feel comfortable. Not going to happen.
 
CBJWerenski8 said:
Habs beat the panthers. We’re now 2.5 points back.

10 games to go for us

We probably need to win 7 or 8 to feel comfortable. Not going to happen.
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Yeah I dont believe in Rangers, Islanders or Red Wings that much this year. Habs seems like the team to beat for that WC2 spot. It is going to be a tough one.
 
Doggy said:
I guess it is all relative. Is the East "so bad" or is just more balanced? The CBJ just played the Canucks, both teams are on the cusp of a playoff spot and the 'Nucks have six more points than us. Did you think the Canucks were a vastly better team than the Blue Jackets? I didn't think so. The Flames? Nah. The Wild (they beat us twice...damn lucky they got us early in the season before they went in the crapper and we figured out our identity)?

The records don't reflect that the East doesn't have the luxury of playing Chicago and San Jose and Nashville as many times as the Western teams do. The team with the worst point percentage in the East (Buffalo) would be fourth worst in the West (1/1000 of a percentage point away from being fifth worst). We picked up 10 of 14 points against those four teams...if only we could have doubled the number of games played against them like those mighty teams in the Western Conference.

Look at Buffalo, team has Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka, Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Josh Norris, Bowen Byram, etc. Chicago has Bedard and...Donato, Teravainen and Bertuzzi? Which team would you rather play. Is that even a discussion?

I am not saying the East is dominant and the West sucks, just that it's probably significantly more equal than how you present it.
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I didn't say anything about the West.

The WC2 team being on pace for 87 points...highlights how mediocre all these teams are chasing for that spot. The Blue Jackets are 23-30 in regulation and, more or less, control their own destiny.

The playoff cut line used to be 93-94 points (one year even got up to 98 if memory serves) and this is likely the 2nd consecutive year where really, a pretty mid team is going to get that last spot.
 
DarkandStormy said:
I didn't say anything about the West.

The WC2 team being on pace for 87 points...highlights how mediocre all these teams are chasing for that spot. The Blue Jackets are 23-30 in regulation and, more or less, control their own destiny.

The playoff cut line used to be 93-94 points (one year even got up to 98 if memory serves) and this is likely the 2nd consecutive year where really, a pretty mid team is going to get that last spot.
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Last year the cutoff was 91 - the Red Wings had 91 and lost out on the tie-breaker.

I think the point remains that there is unusual parity in the East this year. Typically there are some bottom feeders in each conference to inflate the numbers a bit. Last year there was at least one team offering up easy wins - the Blue Jackets. :laugh: This year Buffalo is the worst team and they're pacing 76 points, not that bad.

In 2019, the year the Jackets swept the Bolts, the Jackets were the 8th seed with 98 points. Buffalo also had 76 points that year. Three teams had fewer points than them.
 
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I unscientifically “feel” like we’ll need to reach 90. That would be a 7-2-1 finish. That would mean the Rangers do no better than 6-2-0 AND the Habs do no better than 6-3-0 / 5-2-2. It’s possible a 5-3-0 Rangers finish and 5-4-0 / 4-3-2 Habs finish would mean we’d only need 88 / a 6-3-1 finish (if NYI loses in regulation today). I doubt both NYR AND Habs finish below .500, so doubt anything below 88 would get us in.

Reason I say “if NYI loses in regulation today” is because I’m just about to the point of not worrying about Detroit and (if they lose in regulation today) NYI. Again, not because they couldn’t pass us, but if they do, that probably means we didn’t finish strong enough to pass NYR/MTL anyway.
 
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DarkandStormy said:
I didn't say anything about the West.

The WC2 team being on pace for 87 points...highlights how mediocre all these teams are chasing for that spot. The Blue Jackets are 23-30 in regulation and, more or less, control their own destiny.

The playoff cut line used to be 93-94 points (one year even got up to 98 if memory serves) and this is likely the 2nd consecutive year where really, a pretty mid team is going to get that last spot.
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My argument still remains but instead of comparing the EC to the WC, now it's comparing EC 2024-2025 to EC in other years. In 2024-2025 the worst team in the conference is Buffalo with 68 points and nine games to play. They could reasonably reach 75 points. In 2021-2022 the two WCs were 107 and 100 points. But the worst teams were 55, 61, 63, 73 and 74. The worst team this year might pick up more points than the five worst teams that year.

Was it that 2021-2022 had much better teams in the middle or was it that there were way too many really bad teams for them to beat up on and pad their record?

You suggest the middling teams are not as good this year and I suggest the worst teams are not all that bad this year. It's probably somewhere in the middle but my thinking can be just as viable as yours.
 
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Long Live Lyle said:
I unscientifically “feel” like we’ll need to reach 90. That would be a 7-2-1 finish. That would mean the Rangers do no better than 6-2-0 AND the Habs do no better than 6-3-0 / 5-2-2. It’s possible a 5-3-0 Rangers finish and 5-4-0 / 4-3-2 Habs finish would mean we’d only need 88 or a 6-3-1 finish (if NYI loses in regulation today). I doubt both NYR AND Habs finish below .500, so doubt anything below 88 would get us in.

Reason I say “if NYI loses in regulation today” is because I’m just about to the point of not worrying about Detroit and (if they lose in regulation today) NYI. Again, not because they couldn’t pass us, but if they do, that probably means we didn’t finish strong enough to pass NYR/MTL anyway.
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You would figure with five teams fighting for one spot that at least one of those clubs will get hot, and that that would set the bar higher.

But I also thought this ten games ago, and everyone went like 3-5-2. Not one of these clubs has won even 5 of their last 10. :laugh:
 
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Doggy said:
My argument still remains but instead of comparing the EC to the WC, now it's comparing EC 2024-2025 to EC in other years. In 2024-2025 the worst team in the conference is Buffalo with 68 points and nine games to play. They could reasonably reach 75 points. In 2021-2022 the two WCs were 107 and 100 points. But the worst teams were 55, 61, 63, 73 and 74. The worst team this year might pick up more points than the five worst teams that year.

Was it that 2021-2022 had much better teams in the middle or was it that there were way too many really bad teams for them to beat up on and pad their record?

You suggest the middling teams are not as good this year and I suggest the worst teams are not all that bad this year. It's probably somewhere in the middle but my thinking can be just as viable as yours.
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I essentially made the same post. But you found the more striking example, which is 2022.

What's funny to me is that Buffalo finished with 75 pts or 76 pts in both your example and mine (2019), and that's what they are pacing this year. It's all the other clubs moving below and above them, while Buffalo is consistent. We could almost use a "how many teams are worse than Buffalo?" standardized statistic to determine what a reasonable point number would be to make the playoffs.
 
So, Habs won and Isles lost in regulation. Not a perfect day but not a perfectly bad day either. Habs have WC2 right now based on Pts% but we are certainly still right in the mix. Not much scoreboard watching on Monday...maybe Wild @ Devils but that's it.
 
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As mentioned, with the NYI regulation loss, I’m not particularly worried about either NYI or Detroit anymore, at least not right now. I’d be pretty surprised if at least one of NYR or Montreal doesn’t get to 87 points. So either Detroit or NYI would have to get 14 points in their final 9 games to top that.

Obviously you never know, maybe NYR and MTL will suck down the stretch and neither finish with more than 84 points or something, and then that brings Detroit and NYI back into play, but I doubt it.
 
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