here are the standings as they apply to us (I'm pretty sure we've jumped a spot now)
Montreal - 32 points (their home/road record is amazing)
Pittsburgh - 28 points
Carolina - 25 Points
Boston - 30 Points
Ottawa - 28 points
Toronto - 26 points
New Jersey - 25 Points (they have a game on hand on us)
Philadelphia - 23 points
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Winnipeg -21 points
Rangers - 20 points
So basically, we have got to win this game tomorrow. Or by the very least get a loser point, as the LP will keep us 1 point ahead of NJ, and three points ahead of Philly who are closing in.
I'm not going to speak ill of Montreal/Ottawa, only, that I am really curious if this is going to continue or will things flip around: most of Ottawas players aren't going to come back until Playoffs (2nd round minimum). so It makes me wonder if they will start to tire, or that's just how it's going to be.
Montreal is the flip side of us, as they will play more on the road (road record this season 6-1-2 vs our 9-4-0). We're playing more home games where we are 4-5-0). So basically if we want to see playoffs, it's not so much "winning the winnable games" or "division" games, its getting every single possible we can get at home including the loser point, whilst still playing well on the road.
(that seems like a duh). but ever since that article brought it up, it seems like every single team has played in overtime/shoot outs to get that blasted extra point, except us. So the games where we are losing, we seriously need to push for the overtime at least to catch up to Ottawa. (and then worry about the other two teams later).