East wildcard race - who's in?

[Brock Radunske]

TB might end up getting in on that action too.

Yeh true.

 

[Demandedace]

Caps should absolutely be included in this debate - we have been horribly inconsistent lately and playing some VERY bad hockey at times (looking at you, last night)

 

[BernieParent]

This roller coaster of a surge has been fun, but the logical part of my brain says that it would be advantageous for the long term if the Flyers fell out long before the TDL and weren't fooled into keeping Simmonds for the run. Brain and h(e)art are far apart.

 

[Braun]

Julien's always been good at getting a team to overachieve just enough to get that 14th overall pick and miss the playoffs by a point.

I guess we’re lucky it’s a lottery!

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Pittsburgh and Carolina is a safe guess. Philly is something like 12-1-1 over last 14, w. 23 gms left and only 6pts behind MTL and Pittsburgh...a little early to say it’s a done deal that they aren’t getting in.

The problem is, the Flyers were 15 points out when they began their run. They've picked up 25 of a possible 28 points in the last 14 games, and they are...still six points out of the last playoff spot. Unless we expect them to keep up an .892 points percentage run, they're going to have a difficult time; just being six points out entering the last quarter of the season is generally considered a tough run of it, and they've still got two other teams tied or in front of them before we get to the current wild card holders.

The Flyers deserve a lot of credit for the resurgence, but I'm not sure they're gonna be able to finish it off. Still a ton of work to be done.

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Man, whoever gets 1st in the Metro might have a horrible 1st round match up.
Imagine drawing Pitts or Washington?

I'm truly dreading the prospect of a first round meeting with Pittsburgh. I'll take my chances with the Lightning head-to-head vs. anybody, but the Pens in the first round has all the ingredients for a classic 1/8 upset.

 

[hockey20000]

I am hoping for Pittsburgh and caroIina.

 

[bukwas]

Things are setting up very nicely for Tampa.
If you take an unbiased look at the standing they're the only team that is certain to make the playoffs. The rest are looking at long drawn out dogfights for playoff spots and seeding.
Great for fans though as things will stay interesting until the bitter end.

 

[dcv2002]

Looking at below I'd see it playing out as:

TBL
BOS
TOR

NYI
CAR
CBJ

WSH
PIT
____
MTL
PHI
BUF

First round: TBL vs PIT, NYI vs WSH, BOS vs TOR, CAR vs CBJ. I'm sure the division winner would be thrilled (being sarcastic)

Team	To 96pts	To 98 Pts	To 100 Pts	Record since 1/1/19	Record Since 2/1/19
TBL	2-21-0	3-20-0	4-19-0	13-4-2	7-0-2
NYI	10-14-0	11-13-0	12-12-0	14-4-2	6-2-1
BOS	10-13-0	11-12-0	12-11-0	13-3-4	7-0-1
TOR	10-13-1	11-12-1	12-11-1	10-8-1	6-2-1
WSH	12-10-1	13-9-1	14-8-1	8-9-4	5-3-1
CBJ	13-11-1	14-10-1	15-9-1	10-8-0	5-2-0
PIT	13-9-1	14-8-1	15-7-1	10-9-1	4-4-1
MTL	13-9-1	14-8-1	15-7-1	10-7-2	3-3-2
CAR	14-9-0	15-8-0	16-7-0	15-5-1	7-2-0
BUF	16-7-1	17-6-1	18-5-1	7-10-1	3-4-1
PHI	16-6-1	17-5-1	18-4-1	13-6-2	6-1-1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I think Montreal will pull it out.

And considering the fact that I thought they'd be a lottery team, that's actually pretty damn good. And I don't see how Pittsburgh doesn't make it.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

This thread should also include teams like Washington, Leafs and Boston. Leafs and Boston have a 6 and 7 points advantage but Washington is only 2 points from being a wildcard.

One bad weed from the Leafs and Bruins and they are right there with those teams also.

Only positive for the Leafs and Bruins is that with Buffalo going on a free fall and the rest of the Atlantic being a complete joke, those 3 teams are almost guaranteed to make the playoffs unless both WC spots go to Metro teams.

Edit: I know the Penguins play the Blue Jackets 3 times in 6 games or something weird like that. So there’s still a lot to be decided. As I assume that these teams still play the others a couple times.

 

[dcv2002]

This thread should include: NYI, BOS, TOR, WSH, CBJ, PIT, MTL, CAR, BUF and PHI.

TBL is in, FLA, NYR, NJD, DET, OTT are out. FLA would have to go 19-6 and NYR 19-5 to get to 96. Might happen, but... NJD 21-2, DET, 21-1, OTT 23-0-1, not going to happen.

Looking at the above it is reasonable to think that TBL, NYI, BOS, TOR with hit 100. Based on recent play, the next group would be CAR, CBJ, WSH, then PIT, MTL.

This thread should also include teams like Washington, Leafs and Boston. Leafs and Boston have a 6 and 7 points advantage but Washington is only 2 points from being a wildcard.

One bad weed from the Leafs and Bruins and they are right there with those teams also.

Only positive for the Leafs and Bruins is that with Buffalo going on a free fall and the rest of the Atlantic being a complete joke, those 3 teams are almost guaranteed to make the playoffs unless both WC spots go to Metro teams.

Edit: I know the Penguins play the Blue Jackets 3 times in 6 games or something weird like that. So there’s still a lot to be decided. As I assume that these teams still play the others a couple times.

 

[TH1Pool]

The problem is, the Flyers were 15 points out when they began their run. They've picked up 25 of a possible 28 points in the last 14 games, and they are...still six points out of the last playoff spot. Unless we expect them to keep up an .892 points percentage run, they're going to have a difficult time; just being six points out entering the last quarter of the season is generally considered a tough run of it, and they've still got two other teams tied or in front of them before we get to the current wild card holders.

The Flyers deserve a lot of credit for the resurgence, but I'm not sure they're gonna be able to finish it off. Still a ton of work to be done.

It’s definitely an uphill battle - but if you flip the narrative, there’s 4 teams currently IN that they are within 4 games of catching. They only need to catch one of them, will all 4 of them keep up with the Flyers pace? 12-1-1 likely isn’t sustainable, but chipping away; 1 point at a time.

Carolina and Buffalo are ahead of them too, but for some reason they aren’t worrying me.

 

[ole ole]

I wasnt. it was painfully obvious the habs would drop.

Sure it was.

 

[joe dirte]

Sure it was.

So you didnt see it coming?

But. I did.

 

[flyersfan018]

The problem is, the Flyers were 15 points out when they began their run. They've picked up 25 of a possible 28 points in the last 14 games, and they are...still six points out of the last playoff spot. Unless we expect them to keep up an .892 points percentage run, they're going to have a difficult time; just being six points out entering the last quarter of the season is generally considered a tough run of it, and they've still got two other teams tied or in front of them before we get to the current wild card holders.

The Flyers deserve a lot of credit for the resurgence, but I'm not sure they're gonna be able to finish it off. Still a ton of work to be done.

Not that I think the Flyers will be able to sneak in but: they made up more ground than just on the WC2 spot. Washington and Columbus still have a chance of slipping and they are all close to each other. One thing that benefits the Flyers is they play both Montreal and Pittsburgh this week. Two huge games that give them a chance to gain some ground quickly.

 

[Selanne00008]

Buffalo is in.
Jackets OUT

 

[sharks9]

So you didnt see it coming?

But. I did.

You didn't see anything yet as Montreal is still in a playoff spot

 

[joe dirte]

You didn't see anything yet as Montreal is still in a playoff spot

I never said i thouch theyd drop out of a playoff spot. But i said theyd drop from where they were. Theyre a fringe playoff team at best and there were habs fans talking about them being in the group just behind tampa last week.