Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Morning playoff check-up

Well, it couldn’t have been a much worse night for the Habs last night.



The Senators beat the Caps in overtime 5-4, earning them a trip off the board because they are pretty well locked into fifth right now. The Rangers win over the Islanders got them back on the board, even though they are still extreme longshots with four points to make up on Montreal in six games.

Among the Canadiens direct competition, the Bruins got a huge overtime win in New Jersey on an overtime goal by Patrice Bergeron with just 19 seconds left until a shootout. Wouldn’t have liked Boston’s chances in the skills contest, so that goal was monumental. The win got the Bruins into a tie with Montreal and Philadelphia with 82 points.

The Thrashers beat the Leafs at home to pull to within two points of a playoff spot, but now finish the season against Washington, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Washington and Pittsburgh. Good luck with that.

Though Montreal is breathing a little heavier this morning, the Habs have the advantage of leading in the win column on Boston, Atlanta and New York, and none of those teams have any games in hand. Four of Montreal’s final six opponents currently sit in the bottom six of the league standings: the Islanders, Leafs and Hurricanes (twice). If the Habs can win three of those games, even if they lose the rest, they finish with 88 points. I think that should be enough to get them in, though they are capable of winning five of their last six.

Philly, meanwhile, has to play the Habs, the red hot Red Wings and finish the season with two against what could be an extremely desperate Rangers team.

So even though it’s getting hot around the Canadiens collar, I still think they remain in the driver’s seat. They’ve earned the easy finishing schedule by playing a tougher one earlier on, so now it’s time for them to take advantage of it.

Philadelphia Flyers – Sixth place, 38-32-6, 82 points
Last night: Did not play
Next game: @ New York Islanders Thursday
6 games remaining, 2 against teams in playoff spot
Home (3) – Mtl Apr 2, Det April 4, NYR April 11
Road (3) – NYI April 1, Tor April 6, NYR April 9

Montreal Canadiens – Seventh place, 37-31-8, 82 points
Last night – Did not play
Next game: v. Carolina tonight
6 games remaining, 2 against teams in playoff spot
Home (3) – Car March 31, Buf April 3, Tor April 10
Road (3) – Pha April 2, NYI April 6, Car April 8

Boston Bruins – Eighth place, 35-29-12, 82 points
Last night: 1-0 overtime win over New Jersey
Next game: v. Florida Thursday
6 games remaining, 3 against teams in playoff spot
Home (3) – Fla April 1, Buf April 8, Car April 10 
Road (3) – Tor April 3, Was April 5, Was April 11

Atlanta Thrashers – Ninth place, 34-30-12, 80 points
Last night: 3-2 win over Toronto
Next game: v Washington Thursday
5 games remaining, 5 against teams in playoff spot
Home (2) – NJ April 6, Pgh April 10
Road (3) – Was April 1, Pgh April 3, Was April 9

New York Rangers – 10th place, 34-32-10, 78 points
Last night: 4-3 win over New York Islanders
Next game: @ Tampa Bay Friday
6 games remaining, 3 against teams in playoff spot
Home (2) – Tor April 7, Pha April 9
Road (4) – TB April 2, Fla April 3, Buf April 6, Pha April 11

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The edge Canadiens have over each of Atlanta, Boston or the Rangers is that each of those teams lose the tiebreaker with Montreal on number of wins. So each of those 3 teams to beat Montreal out of any position must get at least one point more than the Canadiens end up with.

Anonymous said...

If there was a "magic number" in hockey like is used in baseball, Atlanta and the Rangers can at most end up with 90 points if each or both win out. Canadiens will win any tie-breaker with either team at 90 points. So Canadiens need 8 more points(4 wins or however).

Canadiens magic number(combination of points Canadiens succeed in getting AND each point those teams FAIL to make) as of right now, the Canadiens' number is 8 points.

Anonymous said...

Curious that you haven't posted your thoughts on the impact of the Metropolit injury on the playoff chances. Granted he's been somewhat inconsistent, but 16 is a lot of goals on this team and he brought heart (expected) and flair (unexpected) on many nights.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Curious that you haven't posted your thoughts on the impact of the Metropolit injury on the playoff chances.
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I think if they could still win even when Cammaleri was out then they can without Metropolit.