Keeping up with the Metropolitans 1/29/17-2/4/17

METROPOLITAN	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10
Washington	52	35	11	6	76	34	1	4	20-5-1	15-6-5	170	114	+56	7-2-1
Columbus	51	33	13	5	71	31	2	1	18-6-1	15-7-4	170	127	+43	4-5-1
Pittsburgh	51	33	13	5	71	31	2	1	22-3-2	11-10-3	184	147	+37	7-3-0
NY Rangers	51	32	18	1	65	30	2	1	14-11-1	18-7-0	173	136	+37	5-5-0
Philadelphia	53	26	20	7	59	21	5	4	16-7-4	10-13-3	144	162	-18	5-4-1
Carolina	51	24	20	7	55	22	2	4	17-6-1	7-14-6	138	146	-8	5-5-0
NY Islanders	50	22	18	10	54	21	1	3	16-8-6	6-10-4	147	148	-1	6-2-2
New Jersey	53	22	21	10	54	19	3	2	10-9-4	12-12-6	125	152	-27	6-3-1

Now that the All Star Game is done and over with, and the calendar has flipped over to February, it's starting to get down to the nitty gritty. The schedule makers sure had their hands full with the Metropolitan for the month of February. There are many different ways this can play out, but for the top teams, and the bottom teams in the Metro, lots of ground can be made or lost in what is the shortest month of the year.

The Capitals are kicking off a four game home stand this week and then will have their bye week. When they come back, the Caps will only play one more game at the Verizon Center for the remainder of this month. The rest of the division will have lots of time to make up ground, and the Caps will then have to deal with playing an extended amount of time on the road after their break - lots of opportunities for the Pens, or maybe another team, to overtake their lead in the division.

While the Caps kick off a four game home stand, the Rangers will be doing the very same thing - their next four games will all take place at MSG this week. The Rangers are in the middle of a long stretch of games with very few breaks in between. They will play 8 home games 4 road games in 23 days to wrap up a busy February.

Not to be outdone by the Rangers and Capitals, Columbus will play in Detroit Tuesday and then will begin 7 game home stand of their own, with a 5 day break scheduled in the middle. The Blue Jackets only have 3 road games remaining this month including the Detroit game this week, and won't be traveling again until February 26.

In what could be considered bad news for them, Carolina has only two total road games in the next 12 days. That means they can only gain 4 total points in that time. For a team that is holding on for dear life, that stretch may be the proverbial nail in the coffin as they may be watching the division pass them by. Did I mention both of those games are on the road, where the Canes have a 7-14-6 record on the year? February may be a killer month for Carolina.

While I'm at it, it's also worth mentioning that New Jersey has 9 games left in February, and the only road game is February 19th in Brooklyn, which will be the second half of a home and home with the Islanders. They need a lot of things to go their way if they want to make the dance, and it starts with this stretch of games. It's make or break time for the Devils in February.

As for the Penguins in February, the schedule makers didn't give them much of a favorable schedule as some of the other teams in the division. The Penguins can gain ground of the Capitals during their bye week, but the Penguins schedule is split the rest of the month with 5 home games and 5 road games remaining. The Penguins control their own destiny, so to say.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
WILD CARD	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10
NY Rangers	51	32	18	1	65	30	2	1	14-11-1	18-7-0	173	136	+37	5-5-0
Philadelphia	53	26	20	7	59	21	5	4	16-7-4	10-13-3	144	162	-18	5-4-1
Toronto	50	24	17	9	57	23	1	6	12-8-3	12-9-6	155	149	+6	5-4-1
Florida	52	23	19	10	56	20	3	5	14-9-3	9-10-7	124	143	-19	5-3-2
Carolina	51	24	20	7	55	22	2	4	17-6-1	7-14-6	138	146	-8	5-5-0
NY Islanders	50	22	18	10	54	21	1	3	16-8-6	6-10-4	147	148	-1	6-2-2
New Jersey	53	22	21	10	54	19	3	2	10-9-4	12-12-6	125	152	-27	6-3-1
Detroit	52	22	21	9	53	16	6	0	11-12-4	11-9-5	132	152	-20	5-2-3
Buffalo	51	21	20	10	52	20	1	5	12-8-4	9-12-6	125	143	-18	5-4-1
Tampa Bay	53	23	24	6	52	20	3	2	13-10-2	10-14-4	144	157	-13	3-5-2

Washington Capitals

35-11-6, 76 pts  /  170GF/114GA  /  2-1 record last week

1/31/17
WSH: 2
NYI: 3

Caps vs. Isles Recap: Islanders Stop Caps 3-2

2/1/17
BOS: 2
WSH: 5

Caps vs. Bruins Recap: Boston Be Ruined, Caps Win 5-3

2/4/17
WSH: 3
MTL: 2

Capitals vs. Canadiens Recap: Beagle, Burakovsky, Backstrom Goals Lift Washington

Week Ahead:

Sunday Feb 5 - vs LAK

Tuesday Feb 7 - vs CAR

Thursday Feb 9 - vs DET

Saturday Feb 11 - vs ANA

Injuries:

Nada.

Columbus Blue Jackets

33-13-5, 73 pts  /  170GF/127GA  /  1-1-1 record last week

1/31/17
CBJ: 6
NYR: 4

Recap: Grit Your Teeth And Take The Win

2/3/17
CBJ: 3
PIT: 4 OT

Game 50 Recap: Penguins 4 Jackets 3 (OT)

BONUS! Pensburgh Coverage:
Penguins vs. Blue Jackets: PHIL PHIL PHIL OT winner!

2/4/17
NJD: 5
CBJ: 1

Recap: No Exit

Week Ahead:

Tuesday Feb 7 - @ DET

Thursday Feb 9 - vs VAN

Saturday Feb 11 - vs DET

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
D. Clarkson, RW	Sep 20, 2016	IR	Back
D. Savard, D	Jan 30, 2017	day-to-day	Undisclosed injury

New York Rangers

32-18-1, 65 pts  / 173GF/136GA  /  1-1 record last week

1/31/17
CBJ: 6
NYR: 4

Rangers Fall To Blue Jackets 6-4 In Return

2/2/17
NYR: 2 OT
BUF: 1

Rangers Bounce Back With 2-1 Win Over Sabres

Week Ahead:

Sunday Feb 5 - vs CAL

Tuesday Feb 7 - vs ANA

Thursday Feb 9 - vs NSH

Saturday Feb 11 - vs COL

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
K. Hayes, C	Jan 22, 2017	IR	Lower-body injury
A. Raanta, G	Feb 1, 2017	day-to-day	Personal reasons

Philadelphia Flyers

26-20-7, 59 pts  /  144GF/162GA  /  1-1-1 record last week

1/31/17
PHI: 1
CAR: 5

Flyers at Hurricanes recap: Worst performance of the season gives Flyers a loss out of the break

2/2/17
MTL: 1
PHI: 3

Flyers vs. Canadiens recap: Of course the Flyers won that game

2/4/17
LAK: 1 OT
PHI: 0

Flyers vs. Kings recap: Shutout loss in overtime puts the Flyers at a crossroads

Week Ahead:

Monday Feb 6 - vs STL

Thursday Feb 9 - vs NYI***

Saturday Feb 11 - vs SJS

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Del Zotto, D	Jan 24, 2017	day-to-day	Lower-body injury

Carolina Hurricanes

24-20-7, 55 pts  /  138GF/146GA  /  3-0 record last week

1/31/17
PHI: 1
CAR: 5

Recap: Aho’s Hat Trick Powers Hurricanes to 5-1 Win over Flyers (Rank ‘em)

2/3/17
EDM: 1
CAR: 2

Recap and Rank ‘Em: Carolina Hurricanes Outlast Edmonton Oilers in 2-1 Victory

2/4/17 
CAR: 5 OT
NYI: 4

Recap: ‘Canes Outduel Islanders in OT, 5-4

Week Ahead:

Tuesday Feb 7 - @ WSH

Saturday Feb 11 - @ DAL

Injuries:

New York Islanders

22-18-10, 54 pts  /  147GF/148GA  /  1-1-1 record last week

1/31/17
WSH: 2
NYI: 3

Islanders 3 (EN), Capitals 2: 7-game point streak

2/3/17
NYI: 4
DET: 5

Red Wings 5, Islanders 4: Last-minute double-tip ends Isles point streak

2/4/17
CAR: 5 OT
NYI: 4

Hurricanes 5, Islanders 4 (OT): Defense need not apply

Week Ahead:

Monday Feb 6 - vs TOR

Thursday Feb 9 - @ PHI***

Saturday Feb 11 - @ OTT

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

22-21-10, 54 pts  /  125GF/152GA  /  2-0-1 record last week

1/31/17
NJD: 4
DET: 3

New Jersey Devils Hold On to Edge Detroit Red Wings 4-3

2/3/17
CAL: 4 OT
NJD: 3

Flames beat Devils 4-3 in OT; TJ Brodie kills Devils with four assists.

2/4/17
NJD: 5
CBJ: 1

Perfect Night For The Devils Ends in 5-1 Victory Over Columbus

Week Ahead:

Monday Feb 6 - vs BUF

Injuries:

PLAYER	DATE	STATUS	DESCRIPTION
M. Savard, C	Oct 9, 2016	IR	Post-concussion syndrome
J. Moore, D	Dec 31, 2016	IR	Concussion
B. Bennett, RW	Jan 20, 2017	IR	Lower-body injury
J. Merrill, D	Feb 1, 2017	IR	Upper-body injury

*Standings via ESPN as of 2/4/17
**Injuries via TSN as of 2/4/17
***Game of the week! The West Coast teams all seem to be making their presence known in the Metro this week, and not a lot of games stood out. The game with the best chance of carnage is the NYI-PHI match-up this Thursday. Both teams are gunning for a playoff position, so this is the start of some high stakes games to finish this campaign.