NHL: Handicapping the Eastern Conference playoff race
With roughly 30 games left in the NHL regular season, the intensity is heating up. Here is a deep dive into the Eastern Conference’s tight playoff race.
The Eastern Conference playoff picture is a constantly shifting tapestry as teams jostle each other for a higher position in the standings. There are currently four teams fighting for two wild-card spots and three of them are tied with 61 points. It’s the most compelling race in the NHL.
Entering February, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes, and Philadelphia Flyers are in a deadlock. Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets sit one spot above, with just one point separating them. Here is a deep dive into the competitive teams and whether or not they will remain in the race or slowly fall off the wagon.
The Untouchables
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These are the teams that are built for the playoffs and will make it barring some miraculous collapse. In the Metropolitan Division, the two teams are the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. In the Atlantic Divison, the teams are the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Washington Capitals
The Capitals have been the best team in the league and Alexander Ovechkin seems to have found another goal-scoring gear. This team is well-rounded and poised to make some noise in the playoffs.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins managed more than just navigate through their devastating injuries. They have been one of the best teams in the league without Sidney Crosby and both Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel missed some action as well. With their stars back on the team, there is no way they are missing the postseason.
Boston Bruins
The Bruins have been the second-best team in the entire league with 72 points and look ready to redeem themselves after losing in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. They have arguably the best line in hockey and David Pastrnak has established himself as a premier goalscorer in the league.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning started off the season rocky but their stars have found their groove and they have been one of the hotter teams in the league as of late, including a 10-game winning streak. In their last 17 games, Tampa has a 14-2-1 record. They’ve been doing alright.
The Questionables
These are the teams that have the tools to make it, but their fate is still uncertain. In the Metropolitan Division, this includes the New York Islanders and the Carolina Hurricanes. In the Atlantic Division, it is the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are currently third in the Metropolitan but they are only a single point up on the Columbus Blue Jackets. This team has been struggling to score all season long and their rock-solid goaltending is starting to show some cracks.
The Islanders average just 2.9 goals per game (19th in the NHL) and in his last five games, Semyon Varlamov has a .895 save percentage. The only player on the team with 20 goals is Brock Nelson and unless this team can figure out how to get it done offensively, their playoff chances are looking less likely, especially with how hot the Blue Jackets have been playing.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes have had a very inconsistent season due to the number of injuries this team has gone through. The biggest possibly the one that puts a dagger into their playoff hopes is the injury suffered by Dougie Hamilton. Hamilton broke his leg in a game against the Blue Jackets and is out for the rest of the season.
Losing Hamilton means that the Hurricanes needed to replace his ice time (23:17 a night) as well as his production. His 40 points in 47 games made him fourth on the team in scoring and that is extremely hard to replace. Unless Don Waddell goes out and finds a solid replacement, this team’s challenge will be much harder.
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Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have a ton of offensive firepower on their team but the acquisition of Sergei Bobrovsky has done nothing to improve their lack of reliable goaltending. The team has been hot, going 8-2 in their last 10 games and they’re currently on a six-game winning streak. Perhaps they can score their way out of their goaltending issues, but whether this offensive tear will last remains a question.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have improved significantly after the firing of Mike Babcock. Under Sheldon Keefe, the team has gone 18-7-3 and all their key offensive players are producing. However, the slew of injuries has set them back, especially the ones to their defensemen, Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin (Muzzin is back now but he missed significant time).
With the run-and-gun style of play the Leafs like to use, they live and die by the goaltending of Frederik Andersen. Andersen’s save percentage has been going down since December and in the month of January, he really struggled and had a .893 sv%. Unless he can regain the dominance he had earlier in the season, it will be a fight to the bitter end for the Leafs.
The Cinderella Stories
Everyone loves a Cinderella Story and the Eastern Conference has two very good candidates in the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Philadelphia Flyers.
Columbus Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets embody the “never say die” attitude. John Tortorella has done a fantastic job of getting everything out of his players in each and every game and he has turned a rag-tag group into a playoff threat.
When the Blue Jackets lost all their superstars to free agency, it seemed like the team was ready for a rebuild. However, all the players that stayed have really stepped up, especially their goaltender, Joonas Korpisalo. When Korpisalo went down with an injury, it seemed like Columbus was doomed. In came Elvis Merzlikins and he picked up right where Korpisalo left off.
This is a perfect example of the season the Blue Jackets are having. The right players are stepping up and they are winning as a team. Right now, they have a hold of the top wild-card spot and have gone 14-2-2 in their last 18 games. This hot streak won’t last for the rest of the season, but if they can continue to play with the same ferocity, they just might make the playoffs.
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers have been hit with a truckload of injuries to very important players including Carter Hart and Shane Gotisbehere and have been struggling as of late. They are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games and they need to be better in order to keep up in the tight playoff race.
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With the kind of competition the Flyers are going against, getting into the playoffs will be a very tough task. They will need to get better goaltending from Brian Elliott until Hart returns to action and get more secondary scoring from their third and fourth lines. It’s a long shot, but the NHL has seen stranger things before.