The Race for Eighth
Everyone’s been up-to-date on the top Eastern and Western teams since the beginning. It was an exciting first half of the season when Chicago went on their hot streak. And now all the talk is about the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup—errr, winning 15 straight and trading for Iginla, Morrow, and Murray in the past few weeks. But what has really been heating up is lower down in the Eastern Conference; the race for the last playoff spots.
Currently, it’s down to the New Jersey Devils, the New York Rangers, and the New York Islanders. Of course, all of that can change by next week but as of now it’s a tight race between division rivals.
The Devils started off their season better than expected after the loss of Captain Zach Parise. Once their Hall of Fame goaltender Marty Brodeur got injured, though, their season took a turn for the worst. After being first in the East at one point in the season, they’re now struggling to hold on to their 7th spot with 39 points. Another thing Devils fans won’t be too happy about is that they are the only team out of the three that still have to play the Bruins, Canadiens, and Penguins at least one more time this season. Out of their remaining 12 games, 9 of those will come against teams that are currently in the top 8. On top of that, the last game of their season will be against the Rangers. It will be interesting to see how meaningful that game ends up to be for both teams.
Unfortunately, the New York Rangers have also had a disappointing season so far. After last year, expectations were high and they just didn’t live up to the hype. (Whether that has something to do with the coaching style or not, I won’t get into it). The Rangers are only two points behind the Devils. Even though they are tied with the Islanders with 37 points, the Rangers have an edge on them and currently hold the 8th spot. The Rangers also have an advantage in that they have one less game played than the Devils and the Islanders. Their next two games are against the hot Pittsburgh Penguins; if they can get through that, though, the rest of their season isn’t too bad.
NHL.com
On the other hand, the New York Islanders are surpassing expectations. Star forward John Tavares is leading his team to a potential playoff spot. This would be their first time making the playoffs in six years. With one game more than the Rangers, they are tied with them in points but sit in the 9th spot. After giving Pittsburgh a run for their money and beating the Devils a few days later, there’s certainly no reason to count them out of playoffs yet. Upcoming, they probably have the easiest schedule of the three. Only 5 of their remaining 12 games are against teams that are currently in the top 8. And that includes two games against the Jets (who only actually have 38 points but are fortunate enough to be in the South East division). That means, though, that the majority of the teams they play will also be fighting to make a playoff spot.
So which teams will take the last playoff spots? Or will it be someone outside of the Atlantic Division? Carolina and Washington are next in line with 34 points as of today. And with the trade deadline coming up quickly, anything could happen. Either way, this will undoubtedly be a tight race to the finish.
