Keeping up with the Metropolitans: Week 23

Your weekly dose of Metropolitan action!

By t.cann112 Mar 12, 2018, 9:00am EDT

NHL: Pittsburgh Penguins at Philadelphia Flyers

Believe it or not, the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in less than a month, and the Penguins are back in first place! That’s right, the puck drops for the Playoffs on April 11th. That means that there’s only a month left for teams to pick up points to qualify for the playoffs, and also for the Metropolitan Division to sort itself out for playoff seeding. Much to the delight of hockey fans, the NHL Playoffs are set up by divisional brackets, instead of your typical 1vs8, 2vs7, etc. match-ups. These last few weeks are going to be very pivotal in how the playoffs shake out next month. The Penguins currently own the best home record in the NHL. Needless to say, finishing first in the Metro would be a big advantage this spring for the Pens.

The Hurricanes and Islanders aren’t officially out of it yet, but neither seem to have enough life left to make a final push for the playoffs. Since there are really only 5 true playoff teams remaining in the Metro, here’s a break down of each team’s schedule the rest of the way:

Pittsburgh Penguins - 84 pts

12 games remaining - 6 home / 6 away
5 games against (potential) playoff teams - 3 home / 2 away:
3/23 vs NJD, 3/25 vs PHI, 3/29 @ NJD, 4/1 vs WSH, 4/5 @ CBJ
All potential playoff opponents are from Metro division
7 games against non-playoff teams - 3 home / 4 away:
3/14 @ NYR, 3/15 @ MTL, 3/20 @ NYI, 3/21 vs MTL, 3/27 @ DET, 3/31 vs MTL, 4/6 vs OTT(Game #82)
Three games against MTL in the final 12. MTL has a current record of 25-31-12.

Washington Capitals - 83 points

14 games remaining - 7 home / 7 away
8 games against (potential) playoff teams - 5 home / 3 away:
3/12 vs WPG, 3/18 @ PHI, 3/20 vs DAL, 3/30 vs CAR, 4/1 @ PIT, 4/2 @ STL, 4/5 vs NSH, 4/6 vs NJD(Game #82)
6 games against non-playoff teams - 2 home / 4 away:
3/15 @ NYI, 3/16 vs NYI, 3/22 @ DET, 3/24 @ MTL, 3/26 @ NYR, 3/28 vs NYR

Philadelphia Flyers - 81 points

13 games remaining - 7 home / 6 away
9 games against (potential) playoff teams - 5 home / 4 away:
3/12 vs VGK, 3/15 vs CBJ, 3/17 @ CAR, 3/18 vs WSH, 3/25 @ PIT, 3/27 @ DAL, 3/28 @ COL, 4/1 vs BOS, 4/5 vs CAR
4 games against non-playoff teams - 2 home / 2 away:
3/20 @ DET, 3/22 vs NYR, 4/3 @ NYI, 4/7 vs NYR(Game #82)

New Jersey Devils - 78 points

13 games remaining - 6 home / 7 away
Next 9 games on the Devils schedule are against playoff teams
10 games against (potential) playoff teams - 4 home / 6 away
3/14 @ VGK, 3/17 @ LAK, 3/18 @ ANA, 3/20 @ SJS, 3/23 @ PIT, 3/24 vs TBL, 3/27 vs CAR, 3/29 vs PIT, 4/5 vs TOR, 4/7 @ WSH(Game #82)
3 games against non-playoff teams - 2 home / 1 away:
3/31 vs NYI, 4/1 @ MTL, 4/3 vs NYR

Columbus Blue Jackets - 77 points

13 games remaining - 6 home / 7 away
7 games against (potential) playoff teams - 3 home / 4 away:
3/15 @ PHI, 3/19 @ BOS, 3/22 vs FLA, 3/24 vs STL, 3/29 @ CGY, 4/5 vs PIT, 4/7 @ NSH(Game #82)
6 games against non-playoff teams - 3 home / 3 away:
3/12 vs MTL, 3/17 vs OTT, 3/20 @ NYR, 3/27 @ EDM, 3/31 @ VAN, 4/3 vs DET

The Florida Panthers are 8-0-1 in their last 9 and are only 2 points behind the Blue Jackets for the final WC position. Fortunately for the Jackets, they’ve won 4 in a row themselves to keep that 2 point cushion over the Cats. The bad news for CBJ is that the Panthers still have 3 games in hand over the Jackets. The two teams will play one more game before the season ends on March 22nd in Columbus. That could be the deciding game when the season ends a few weeks later. The Devils aren’t feeling too comfortable in their position either, but it appears that the Wild Card will likely come down to two of the Devils, Jackets, and Panthers.

As always folks, thanks for reading this weekly recap and be sure to vote for the Metro game of the week! Thanks for stopping by, and LET’S GO PENS!!!