Well, it looks like both conferences have their eight teams all set for the playoffs.
Now, it's all over but for jockeying for position.
In the East, we have:
1 - NE - Boston Bruins - 114 points (2 games left, possible 118) - clinched 1st
2 - SE - Washington Capitals - 108 points (1 game left, possible 110) - clinched 2nd
3 - ATL - New Jersey Devils - 104 points (1 game left, possible 106) - clinched 3rd
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4 - Philadelphia Flyers - 97 points (2 games left, possible 101)
5 - Carolina Hurricanes - 97 points (1 game left, possible 99)
6 - Pittsburgh Penguins - 97 points (1 game left, possible 99)
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7 - New York Rangers - 93 points (1 game left, possible 95)
8 - Montreal Canadiens - 93 points (1 games left, possible 95)
That's some seriously bunched up there in the middle...! Everyone above the --- lines could swap places, and both teams below it could as well. #%!@^&%$!@#!!! Can we settle this? PLEASE? I *hate* that Philly has two more games. They could wind up as far down as 6th, playing New Jersey... of course, either/or up the middle - PHI-NJD/CAR-PIT, or CAR-NJD/PHI-PIT, or PIT-NJD/PHI-CAR would be fine by me. Two of the four get eliminated... and if it takes seven games each, so much the better for us!
Right now, if things stay the way they are, we play the Rangers in the first round. We *could* still wind up playing the Canadiens, if they win against the Penguins, and the Rangers lose against the Flyers... It's enough to make my head hurt. Again, either way would be fine by me. :)
Boston faces Buffalo tomorrow and the Islanders on Sunday. It won't make a difference in the standings if they win or lose, but two hard-fought games ending the season on a back-to-back could put them in a bad position, even against the Canadiens or the Rangers, whichever they end up with, if they're still tired out.
The Flyers' back-to-back games are against the Islanders on Saturday and the Rangers on Sunday, so we won't know for sure about positioning on slots 4-8 until the Sunday games shake out.
Carolina's last game is against New Jersey on Saturday, but unless the Flyers lose both their remaining games, Carolina will stay in 5th... Pittsburgh's last game is against Montreal, also on Saturday, and I have to say I'm cheering for the Habs for that one, and not just because I want to face them in the first round... ;-)
Right now, we'd see:
* Boston vs. Montreal
* Washington vs. NY Rangers
* NJ Devils vs. Pittsburgh
* Philadelphia vs. Carolina
I could live with that.
As for the Western Conference... it *was* running just as close as the East, but it seems to have shaken out more now. We have:
1 - PAC - San Jose - 117 points (1 game left, possible 119) - clinched 1st
2 - CEN - Detroit Red Wings - 112 points (2 games left, possible 116) - clinched 2nd
3 - NW - Vancouver Canucks - 98 points (1 game left, possible 100) - clinched 3rd
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4 - Chicago Blackhawks - 100 points (2 games left, possible 104) - clinched 4th
5 - Calgary Flames - 96 points (1 game left, possible 98) - clinched 5th
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6 - Columbus Blue Jackets - 92 points (1 game left, possible 94)
7 - St. Louis Blues - 90 points (1 game left, possible 92)
8 - Anaheim Ducks - 88 points (1 game left, possible 90)
So the bottom three slots are still a bit up in the air for order... Right now, it'd be:
* San Jose vs. Anaheim
* Detroit vs. St. Louis
* Vancouver vs. Columbus
* Chicago vs. Calgary
for round one...
Columbus plays Minnesota on Saturday for their last game, and the Wild just *barely* missed the playoffs, with 87 points... Actually, Nashville, who wound up 9th, also barely missed, with 88 points... but if Columbus wins against Minnesota, they keep their 6th seed, and only St. Louis and Anaheim are left to decide.
St. Louis plays Colorado on Sunday... and Anaheim plays Phoenix.
If they wind up tied for points:
1 - Anaheim 5, St. Louis 2
2 - Anahiem 2, St. Louis 3 (OT)
3 - Anahiem 4, St. Louis 2
4 - Anahiem 4, St. Louis 3
POINTS: Anaheim 7, St. Louis 2
If Anaheim and Columbus end up tied for points:
1 - Anaheim 3, Columbus 2
2 - Anaheim 5, Columbus 3
3 - Anaheim 0, Columbus 2
4 - Anaheim 5, Columbus 2
POINTS: Anaheim 6, Columbus 2
Anaheim holds the first tie-breaker against both St. Louis (more wins, 42-41) and Columbus (more wins, 42-40, would be 42-41 with a Columbus win), and in both cases, they hold the second tie-breaker as well.
San Jose is one win away from the President's Trophy; if they lose, and Boston wins both of their remaining games, it goes to Boston.
Playoff hockey is GREAT! It's so much fun to speculate.
And on that poetic note... War and Peace is done, and I am going to bed.
Good night! :-)
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