EDIT: The Islanders make the playoffs with a -18 GD, Capitals clinch with a -37!!

[Romang67]

Just abolish the entire conference at this point. It's like the race between the rabbit and the frog, except the rabbit is a quadriplegic and the turtle has been lobotomized. Also, there were to be two winners in the race, but they both lost to a fisherman who fired his coach halfway through the race and wasn't even aware he was racing.

 

[super6646]

Caps clinch with a -37 goal differential.

I’m stunned. This has to be a record since at least the mid to late 90s…

 

[Ovie's Neighbor]

Caps clinch with a -37 goal differential.

I’m stunned. This has to be a record since at least the mid to late 90s…

all losses count the same does not matter how much you win or lose by.

 

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Loser points are so dumb.

Would love to see someone compile standings based on the old point system with ties, the current system, and one where a regulation win is worth 3, ot win 2 and ot loss 1.

Curious to see what the difference would be. But im lazy

 

[um]

I'm not sure what the record is for lowest goal diff by a playoff team, but the Caps might be close this season.

That said, the bolded also shouldn't be overlooked.

After 71 games, Washington is 39-42.

Detroit is 40-41, with a chance to finish the season at a true .500.

But if Washington wins their last game as well, they'll eliminate Detroit despite finishing with fewer wins on the season.

Apparently Detroit's 11 OT wins (plus two in a shootout) are being held against them, and that ought to leave a bad taste in the mouths of more than a few fans I would think.

EDIT: Hell, just noticed the Isles are 38-43 and already ahead of the other two thanks in large part to loser points. What a backwards system this is.

Here's the regulation records.

Washington - 32-31-19
Detroit - 27-33-23

Washington was the better team in regulation, and made the playoffs for because of it.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Loser points are so dumb.

Would love to see someone compile standings based on the old point system with ties, the current system, and one where a regulation win is worth 3, ot win 2 and ot loss 1.

Curious to see what the difference would be. But im lazy

If games ended with a tie at the end of regulation (no OT/shootout),

7. Islanders: 28-27-26
8. Penguins: 32-31-18
9. Capitals: 32-31-19
10. Flyers: 30-33-19
11. Sabres: 33-37-12
12. Red Wings: 27-32-23

Last playoff spot would all come down to what Pittsburgh does tomorrow. If they tied, I dunno what the old first tiebreaker was. Red Wings were 14-9 in OT/Shootout. Penguins were 6-12 in OT/Shootout.

 

[Shark Finn]

Tie sucks. I want to see a team actually win.

 

[The Panther]

The NHL is weird, as usual.

I'm looking at the standings, and I'm like, "Okay, Detroit has more wins than Washington... Detroit has a way better goal-differential than Washington.... Conclusion: Washington made the playoffs."

I mean, there has to be some sort of (mostly arbitrary) final tie-breaker in use, so now it's regulation wins or whatever. Okay, fine. I actually do think regulation wins are "better" than other kinds of wins.

As usual, however, this then begs the question: If regulation wins are better, why are shoot-out wins (for example) the same points in the standings?

 

[OrangePMD]

Loser points are so dumb.

Would love to see someone compile standings based on the old point system with ties, the current system, and one where a regulation win is worth 3, ot win 2 and ot loss 1.

Curious to see what the difference would be. But im lazy

Natural Stat Trick - Alternate Standings

 

[Dr Pepper]

Here's the regulation records.

Washington - 32-31-19
Detroit - 27-33-23

Washington was the better team in regulation, and made the playoffs for because of it.

82-game season; they finished with 40 wins and 42 losses. In any other league, that wouldn't be good enough but in the NHL it is, so they get in ahead of the 41-41 Red Wings.

Congrats!

Not even a Wings fan but I think they got a raw deal.

 

[PaulD]

Absolutely nuts. With just a handful of games to go in the RS and a team with that sort of split is 3rd in the metro. Washington should be a bottom feeder with a -40 split too. What a fall from grace for the metro for starters, but also how is that even possible? This seems like something that could have occurred in 1986 when it was a 21 league team, but in a 32 team league teams that underwater in their goal differential being in the hunt this late in the season?

I think Pittsburgh or Detroit deserves a spot just by default lol. Just as another point of fact, but only 3 teams in the entire Western conference have worse goal differentials than these two teams, and all of them are absolute bottom feeders. Even languishing Calgary and the Arizona coyotes (who are 7 games below 500!!!!) have better goal differential splits too.

Edit: Edited thread title. Unfrickenbelievable.

Goes to show how many shitty teams there are. That those two teams Caps Islanders can finishe ahead of half the league.
How many teams are tanking these days ? NHL soon can add an entire Tank Division.

 

[trick9]

82-game season; they finished with 40 wins and 42 losses. In any other league, that wouldn't be good enough but in the NHL it is, so they get in ahead of the 41-41 Red Wings.

Congrats!

Not even a Wings fan but I think they got a raw deal.

I mean good for the Red Wings for being a good 3-on-3 OT and SO team but why shouldn't the regulation wins be the tie-breaker? There aren't 3-on-3 OT's or SO's in the Playoffs.

Wings missed the Playoffs because they went 0-3-2 in their last 5 games against Isles, Caps and Pens.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I mean good for the Red Wings for being a good 3-on-3 OT and SO team but why shouldn't the regulation wins be the tie-breaker? There aren't 3-on-3 OT's or SO's in the Playoffs.

Wings missed the Playoffs because they went 0-3-2 in their last 5 games against Isles, Caps and Pens.

I think actual wins should be the tiebreaker, but that's just me.

And sure, during their post-mortem the Wings could easily find lost points throughout the season that would've come in handy this week. But to miss the playoffs partly because other teams just happened to lose their games in the 61st minute as opposed to the 60th? That's gotta sting.

 

[Coaches Coroner]

Tie sucks. I want to see a team actually win.

Arbitrarily having a winner when neither could best the other in regulation and an OT period is IMO very silly, but some people love it so here we are.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Metro division was just weak this year.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

all losses count the same does not matter how much you win or lose by.

Sure, but goal/run/point differential is typically one of the more reliable indicators of performance and post-season success in the 'big four' sports.

It's honestly kind of impressive that the Caps managed to stink this badly and somehow make the playoffs. The bottom completely fell out of the East this season.

 

[MikeyMike01]

I think actual wins should be the tiebreaker, but that's just me.

And sure, during their post-mortem the Wings could easily find lost points throughout the season that would've come in handy this week. But to miss the playoffs partly because other teams just happened to lose their games in the 61st minute as opposed to the 60th? That's gotta sting.

3v3 and SO aren’t actual wins. That’s the problem.

 

[Dr Pepper]

3v3 and SO aren’t actual wins. That’s the problem.

They are, though.

......And you can ask any player who comes out on the other end of those games, they're definitely losses.

Sure it's unconventional, but with the NHL wanting to do away with ties, every game must have a winner.

If a team scores in the final ten seconds of regulation to take the lead, and wins the game? Two points.

If a team scores five seconds into overtime? Guess what? Two points.

Can't say the same for losses, but hey, that's NHL logic for you.

 

[Osakahaus]

Loser points are so dumb.

Would love to see someone compile standings based on the old point system with ties, the current system, and one where a regulation win is worth 3, ot win 2 and ot loss 1.

Curious to see what the difference would be. But im lazy

Islanders ever since Lambert was fired went 19-12-5

Loser point be damned, most of it came from Lambert being a total dunce

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

82-game season; they finished with 40 wins and 42 losses. In any other league, that wouldn't be good enough but in the NHL it is, so they get in ahead of the 41-41 Red Wings.

Congrats!

Not even a Wings fan but I think they got a raw deal.

As a Wings fan, it was a painful way to miss the playoffs after the last minute heroics the last two games, but they had plenty of chances to control their own fate and blew it.

 

[MikeyMike01]

They are, though.

......And you can ask any player who comes out on the other end of those games, they're definitely losses.

Sure it's unconventional, but with the NHL wanting to do away with ties, every game must have a winner.

If a team scores in the final ten seconds of regulation to take the lead, and wins the game? Two points.

If a team scores five seconds into overtime? Guess what? Two points.

Can't say the same for losses, but hey, that's NHL logic for you.

We can go around and around on it. A shoutout loss should absolutely not be worth the same as a team losing 6-1 in regulation.

Anything other than W-L-T is going to have significant compromises.

 

[Dr Pepper]

We can go around and around on it. A shoutout loss should absolutely not be worth the same as a team losing 6-1 in regulation.

Anything other than W-L-T is going to have significant compromises.

Honestly if the league went back to this, it'd solve everything.

No more "regulation wins" tiebreakers, or loser points - or shootouts.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

All these "the Metro is trash" posts...

Yet the #1 and #4 teams in the league presently are Metro teams.

You're making other folks point here. One of the reasons the Rangers/Canes are at the top of the league is the additional games against the larger number of poor teams in the Metro this year.

 

[ijuka]

Too many teams make the playoffs. Reduce it to 8 teams and the game quality will go up.

We can go around and around on it. A shoutout loss should absolutely not be worth the same as a team losing 6-1 in regulation.

Anything other than W-L-T is going to have significant compromises.

Well, a three-point system would value regulation wins 3 times higher than otso wins.

On the other hand, the current system values otso wins the same as regulation wins.

As for Islanders, they're 10-16 in OTSO, hardly benefiting from the system.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Too many teams make the playoffs. Reduce it to 8 teams and the game quality will go up.


Well, a three-point system would value regulation wins 3 times higher than otso wins.

On the other hand, the current system values otso wins the same as regulation wins.

As for Islanders, they're 10-16 in OTSO, hardly benefiting from the system.

I’m not supposed to a 3-2-1 system.

I actually like the idea of:

3 pts RW
2 pts OTW
1 pt SOW
0 pts for L, OTL, SOL