The Bruins have otherwise wrapped up another successful regular season, but their prospective opponent…hasn’t. All of them.
The Bruins only have a handful of games left on their schedule, but wrapping up the Atlantic Division as it’s champions seems more like a given after a myriad of close and hard-fought victories over the past couple of weeks. I don’t have anything to add to my analysis of the team beyond “Heinen for 7th Player”, “David Pastrnak for the Hart”, and of course… “keep up the good work.”
Their prospective opponent on the other hand…very much is a story you could add volumes to, because what a disaster the East is outside of the Top 5 teams in conference.
There’s about Five OR Six teams that are, right now, attempting to either keep their position in the playoff race or try and get into the playoffs themselves; all separated by 4 points, just about all of them actively refusing to win more than a game in a row in order to actually control their destiny. The Islanders got close, and they won so many games consecutively they ended up leapfrogging the Flyers.
Some will likely try to blame the playoff format for such nonsense, but this year I think there’s a unique level of bad that a good portion of the Metropolitan division in specific happens to be would make any version of a playoff format a desperate chase. 1-thru-8 in conference isn’t going to fix five-or-six potential playoff teams playing like ass to end the regular season, nor is it going to fix said teams from their crippling flaws.
But hey, at least it’s entertaining!
Current Opponent by Standings: Tampa
A tough team by any stretch, but there’s a possibility they could avoid them.
Not by much, but the B’s have gotten lucky before.
Part of it comes from the B’s having to win out and also the Rangers dropping two games, while the Bolts come into this week with a bunch of chaffe to finish the season: Columbus, Buffalo, Ottawa, Washington…They could really make a concerted push to get ahead of Toronto if they wanted to.
I don’t know if they will, given that they’ll likely rest guys, but it’s possible.
Comfortably Avoided for Now: Toronto, Florida
Have fun killing each other!
The Bruins’ four game win streak has put a comfortable distance between them and the Panthers, meaning that if the Playoffs started Wednesday, Florida and Toronto would get to work against each other, and the Rangers would deal with the 2nd WC spot.
Assuming the Bruins don’t crash out and the Panthers keep struggling as they finish the season, I think this arrangement will hold. Maybe Tampa will threaten Toronto a bit, but otherwise this seems pretty static.
CURRENT SECOND WILDCARD SPOT HOLDER: Detroit
The Red Wings are 4-4-2 over their last 10, and have faced some otherwise strong talent and have managed to wring some regulation wins out of teams directly in their path for the postseason over the last two weeks. As of right now, they face the homestretch. Not a lot of easy victories here; The Caps may not be perfect and may not be able to score but they’ve still got one of the most dangerous goalscorers of all time kicking around. The Penguins are charging up the standings in spite of taking up an entire wing of a local Pittsburgh hospital in terms of illness, and the Leafs are one of the most winningest teams coming out of the trade deadline.
If there’s any hope for the Wings, it’s that if they play their cards right, they can catch all of these teams on their off night, and then roll into their final games of the year: a home-and-home with the Montreal Canadiens.
Back from the Dead: Pittsburgh!?
But…but you died. We saw your power play. We saw your goaltending and defense. You went through the window. There ain’t no coming back. This is the really real world there ain’t no coming back. We killed you dead there ain’t no coming back!
And yet here. they. are.
Somehow, after all of that, in it. Officially in the playoffs. to the point they might actually overtake the Islanders. With the most momentum of any of these teams.
We’ve sort of forgotten in all the new star hype of the last ten years that Sidney Crosby might still be one of the most undeniable players in the NHL; a paragon of what it means to be a forward in this league. What’s worse, they’re also getting unreal performances out of guys like Erik Karlsson; who by all accounts was washed, and they’re getting some exceptional work out of Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin down the stretch.
Now, does that make them favorites to stay in this position? Maybe? They definitely have a schedule to try and prove it; Leafs tonight, Detroit on Thursday, a game against Boston this upcoming Saturday, and finishing out the year with the Islanders.
Oh, and you gotta fit the Preds in the middle of all that too.
Don’t F@!k up!
Still in it: Washington, NYI, Philly
So I have to ask; did the Flyers realize too late they needed to rebuild and needed to crash out of the playoffs as hard and fast as possible? Because that feels like what’s happening here.
Their last seven games have been abject misery; losing to Buffalo, Columbus, Montreal, AND Chicago all within a two week stretch. And have yet more games to play against teams they absolutely should beat…but may not be able to thanks to this horrendous funk they’ve found themselves in. Their last four games aren’t exactly a walk in the park either; NYR, New Jersey, and Washington as the final divisional opponents they face, as well as a stop in Montreal. They either need to figure out a way to take points from these teams, or they are absolutely doomed.
The Islanders meanwhile, have put together a four game win streak against teams like Nashville and Philly, and taken the points they should from Columbus and Chicago. To finish things out, they face the Rangers twice, the Habs, the Devils, and the Penguins. While I’d say this is a tough stretch, this is a stretch that the Isle has plenty of experience playing and frustrating. Their place in the conference is tenuous, but their playoff position could be sealed up quickly if they get wins where they need to.
Washington could very well end up the grim reaper or visited by the grim reaper for a couple of these teams; as even though the former team of destiny has run out of destiny (and is limping towards hell on a six game losing streak), they spend the last week and change of the season playing teams that are either comfortably ahead of the competition…or desperately need points in order to survive; most of whom directly referenced here in this article. Detroit, Buffalo, Tampa, Boston, and then the Flyers to round things out on a back-to-back.
Better re-learn how to score!
Probably eliminated this week: Buffalo, New Jersey
Look, there is no goddamn way either of these two teams are going to make it. They’re both a game ahead of everyone else and so, so far back. 5 points back may as well be 50 for how they’ve been playing lately.
But that’s what I said back two weeks ago. I didn’t even mention Pittsburgh back then. Guess what happened? Now I can’t choose to leave them out of this even though I should.
The Devils have not done themselves any favors by struggling to beat teams like Ottawa and Nashville (and they lost a heartbreaker to Nashville), and they have a couple of hurdles to clear in the form of Toronto twice, the Islanders, and the Flyers. Only one of which I think seems like a winnable game.
The Sabres meanwhile have actually managed to be…something between the words “Watchable” and “Competitive”, but they’re gonna have to be amazing to even have a shot. Their schedule ahead is gruesome; Caps, Lightning, Panthers…and it all starts by being one of Dallas’ last eastern conference foes of the year. The same Dallas Stars that are nearly perfect coming into the final stretch of games.
They need so much to go right for them right now it’s not worth it. And yet…it very much could be.
That said I think they’re eliminated this week.
Should be, anyway.
This end of the season has been so confusing.
Boston’s End of Season:
Not a terribly difficult stretch, in fact the B’s could end up the grim reaper for teams like Washington and Pittsburgh if they choose to just jump on them. They still have games against Carolina and Florida that need to be accomplished, and a back-to-back on the road to figure out.
That all starts tomorrow against Carolina at 7pm EST.