Keeping up with the Metropolitans 2/5/17-2/11/17

METROPOLITAN	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10
Washington	56	39	11	6	84	38	1	4	24-5-1	15-6-5	192	121	+71	8-2-0
Columbus	54	35	14	5	75	33	2	1	19-7-1	16-7-4	175	133	+42	5-4-1
Pittsburgh	54	34	13	7	75	32	2	2	22-3-3	12-10-4	193	155	+38	6-2-2
NY Rangers	55	36	18	1	73	34	2	1	18-11-1	18-7-0	189	145	+44	8-2-0
Philadelphia	56	27	22	7	61	22	5	4	17-9-4	10-13-3	147	168	-21	5-4-1
NY Islanders	53	24	19	10	58	23	1	3	17-8-6	7-11-4	156	157	-1	6-2-2
New Jersey	54	23	21	10	56	20	3	2	11-9-4	12-12-6	127	153	-26	6-3-1
Carolina	53	24	22	7	55	22	2	4	17-6-1	7-16-6	140	156	-16	3-7-0

It's getting almost comical how every week there seems to be some difference in the top 4 in this division, yet every Saturday night when I throw this together, nothing seems to change up top. The Caps are still #1(in the division of course) with a comfy 9 point lead, but only play one game this week on Sunday before they start their bye week. The Pens still managed to tie Columbus in points with a comeback OTL Saturday in the desert, and King Hank won career game #400 in front of the MSG faithful to close out an exciting Saturday of action for the Metro leaders, with the Rangers still hanging in closely in 4th place, only 2 points behind Pittsburgh and Columbus.

In what is sure to be a closer and more interesting race will be for the second Wild Card spot, Toronto is currently tied with Philly in points. Several playoff teams from last spring are struggling this year to remain relevant, but are still very much in the picture with a couple months remaining in this year. It's going to be interesting to see which GM's are going to go all in at the deadline, and which are looking more long term in what direction they'll go at the deadline.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
WILD CARD	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10
NY Rangers	55	36	18	1	73	34	2	1	18-11-1	18-7-0	189	145	+44	8-2-0
Toronto	54	25	18	11	61	24	1	6	13-9-4	12-9-7	165	161	+4	4-4-2
Philadelphia	56	27	22	7	61	22	5	4	17-9-4	10-13-3	147	168	-21	5-4-1
NY Islanders	53	24	19	10	58	23	1	3	17-8-6	7-11-4	156	157	-1	6-2-2
Florida	54	24	20	10	58	21	3	5	14-10-3	10-10-7	134	153	-19	5-3-2
Tampa Bay	56	25	24	7	57	22	3	3	14-10-2	11-14-5	154	160	-6	4-4-2
New Jersey	54	23	21	10	56	20	3	2	11-9-4	12-12-6	127	153	-26	6-3-1
Buffalo	55	23	22	10	56	22	1	5	13-9-4	10-13-6	136	155	-19	5-4-1
Carolina	53	24	22	7	55	22	2	4	17-6-1	7-16-6	140	156	-16	3-7-0
Detroit	55	22	23	10	54	16	6	0	11-12-5	11-11-5	138	163	-25	2-4-4

Washington Capitals

39-11-6, 84 pts  /  192GF/121GA  /  4-0 record last week

2/5/17
LAK: 0
WSH: 5

Caps vs. Kings Recap: King Kong Ain’t Got Nothing, Caps Crown Kings 5-0

2/7/17
CAR: 0
WSH: 5

Caps vs. Canes Recap: Splash! Caps Drop Five, Win 5-0

2/9/17
DET: 3
WSH: 6

Capitals vs. Red Wings Recap: Washington Wins 11th Straight at Home, 6-3

2/11/17
ANA: 4
WSH: 6

Capitals vs. Ducks Recap: Sanford’s First Goal Lifts Caps, 6-4

Week Ahead:

Saturday Feb 18 - @ DET

Injuries:

I'm not even going to check anymore...

Columbus Blue Jackets

35-14-5, 75 pts  /  175GF/133GA  /  2-1 record last week

2/7/17
CBJ: 3 OT
DET: 2

Recap: It’s Not How You Start, It’s How You Finish

2/9/17
VAN: 3
CBJ: 0

Recap: What Do You Mean, "Defend Nationwide Arena"?

2/11/17
DET: 1
CBJ: 2

Quick Takes: Red Wings at Blue Jackets

Week Ahead:

Monday Feb 13 - vs NYR

Wednesday Feb 15 - vs TOR

Friday Feb 17 - vs PIT***

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
D. Clarkson, RW	Sep 20, 2016	IR	Back

New York Rangers

36-18-1, 73 pts  / 189GF/145GA  /  4-0 record last week

2/5/17
CAL: 3
NYR: 4

Three Goal Third Period Helps Rangers Defeat Flames

2/7/17
ANA: 1
NYR: 4

Lundqvist Makes 43 Saves As Rangers Top Ducks 4-1

2/9/17
NSH: 3
NYR: 4

Hayes, Miller, Grabner Line Leads Rangers Past Predators

2/11/17
COL: 2
NYR: 4

Henrik Lundqvist Picks Up 400th Win As Rangers Defeat Avs 4-2

Week Ahead:

Monday Feb 13 - @ CBJ

Thursday Feb 16 - @ NYI

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
D. Girardi, D	Feb 8, 2017	day-to-day	Lower-body injury

Philadelphia Flyers

27-22-7, 61 pts  /  147GF/168GA  /  1-2 record last week

2/6/17
STL: 2
PHI: 0

Blues 2, Flyers 0: Shooting Blanks

2/9/17
NYI: 3
PHI: 1

Flyers vs. Islanders recap: Flyers lose because why not life is hard sometimes

2/11/17
SJS: 1
PHI: 2 OT

Flyers vs Sharks recap: Simmonds with overtime heroics, Flyers win 2-1

Week Ahead:

Wednesday Feb 15 - @ CAL

Thursday Feb 16 - @ EDM

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Del Zotto, D	Jan 24, 2017	day-to-day	Lower-body injury
T. Konecny, C	Feb 6, 2017	IR	Left knee/sprained ankle

New York Islanders

24-19-10, 58 pts  /  156GF/157GA  /  1-2 record last week

2/6/17
TOR: 5
NYI: 6 OT

Islanders 6, Maple Leafs 5 (OT): That’s way better than an all-star game

2/9/17
NYI: 3
PHI: 1

Islanders 3, Flyers 1: Back in the hunt

2/11/17
NYI: 0
OTT: 3

Senators 3, Islanders 0: Anderson shuts out Isles in much-awaited return

Week Ahead:

Sunday Feb 12 - vs COL

Tuesday Feb 14 - @ TOR

Thursday Feb 16 - vs NYR

Saturday Feb 18 - @ NJD

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Grabovski, C	Sep 25, 2016	IR	Concussion
T. Hamonic, D	Jan 8, 2017	IR	Lower-body injury
C. Clutterbuck, RW	Feb 3, 2017	day-to-day	Lower-body injury

New Jersey Devils

23-21-10, 56 pts  /  127GF/153GA  /  1-0 record last week

2/6/17
BUF: 1
NJD: 2

Pavel Zacha, Cory Schneider, and Evander Kane (Jokes) help Devils win 2-1 against Buffalo

Week Ahead:

Sunday Feb 12 - vs SJS

Tuesday Feb 14 - vs COL

Thursday Feb 16 - vs OTT

Saturday Feb 18 - vs NYI

Injuries:

Carolina Hurricanes

24-22-7, 55 pts  /  140GF/156GA  /  0-2 record last week

2/7/17
CAR: 0
WSH: 5

Recap: Hurricanes Shut Out in 5-0 Loss to Washington Capitals

2/11/17
CAR: 2
DAL: 5

Slow Start Dooms Carolina Hurricanes in 5-2 Loss to Dallas Stars (Rank ‘em)

Week Ahead:

Friday Feb 17 - @ COL

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
B. Bickell, LW	Nov 9, 2016	IR	Multiple sclerosis

*Standings via ESPN as of 2/11/17
**Injuries via TSN as of 2/11/17
***Game of the week! The Columbus Blue Jackets will be hosting our beloved Pittsburgh Penguins this Friday evening at Nationwide Arena. Need I say more? Puck drops at 7 PM!