As the National Hockey League enters its final week of the 2014-15 regular season, we take a look at the amazing battle for the final two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.
Following a 4-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers became the latest victim to mathematical eliminations, joining the Columbus Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres as the crew on the outside looking in. Much like the West, where the battle is for the remaining two Pacific division spots and the wild card race, any of the six teams currently hunting in the East could end up in either a wild card spot or as a member of the three top teams in their division. The Ottawa Senators are the only team that isn’t mathematically done but they have a ways to go to make the postseason this year.
Only the Montreal Canadiens, the Lightning and the New York Rangers have clinched a playoff spot in the East. After that, five points separate the New York Islanders from the 9th place Ottawa Senators, while just three points separate the Sens and a playoff berth (they don’t hold the ROW tiebreaker over either Detroit or Pittsburgh and are two points behind both). In the final week of the regular season, every point counts. Here’s the battle for the two final wild card spots.
Ottawa Senators (40-26-13 – 93 points)
Following the firing of one head coach in Paul MacLean and the hiring of another in Dave Cameron, the mentality completely changed and with that, so did the results. On top of Andrew Hammond continuing to be lights out in goal, Erik Karlsson remaining one of the league’s best offensive defenseman, and Mark Stone becoming one of the breakthrough stories whose name isn’t Johnny Gaudreau, Filip Forsberg or Aaron Ekblad, the Senators have taken the hockey world by storm and are attempting to prove that they can be a playoff team. With three games left in hand following a 3-2 shootout loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Senators walk into the final week of the regular season with their work cut out for them.
The Senators are currently 7-2-1 in their last ten games. Here is a look at their final three games of their regular season.
Tuesday, April 7th – vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
All three games remaining are must wins but if one could possibly be more important than the others, it’s this one against the Penguins. With just two points separating both teams to determine a wild card position, the Sens will hope to take these two points in regulation. In two meetings this season, Ottawa is 0-1-1 against the Penguins. Both games ended in a one-goal difference, and the last meeting went to a shootout where David Perron sealed the deal on the two points. Both Karlsson and Bobby Ryan have three assists in the two games, while Mika Zibanejad has added two goals. They key will be to keep both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin off the scoresheet but given the Penguins poor play as of late, there may be no better time than now to take on Pittsburgh and advance in the standings.
Thursday, April 9th – @New York Rangers
The Senators also happen to be 0-1-1 against the Rangers in the two contests they’ve been in this season. Back in January, Carl Hagelin scored in overtime to put New York past Ottawa 3-2 and their latest game, just two weeks ago, was not even close as the Senators dropped a 5-1 decision in a game where Hammond had the chance to surpass Patrick Lalime for a historic record. Chris Kreider has been the biggest pain in their side this season, scoring three goals and adding an assist, while Kevin Hayes and Derek Stepan both have three points each. Whether it’s been Cam Talbot or Henrik Lundqvist in goal, the Senators have had a hard time figuring out the Rangers defensive system, and it will once again prove to be a difficult task.
Saturday, April 11th – @Philadelphia Flyers
Neither team has outdone the other in this season series, as the Flyers and the Senators have taken a shootout win each, and will ultimately decide who takes this series in the third and final game. Both games also ended in a score of 2-1, as both goaltenders in each game put on a clinic. All four of Hammond, Craig Anderson, Steve Mason and Ray Emery hold a 0.92 goals against average, which is telling from the one goal each of them have allowed in the series. The Senators will need to play tight, defensive hockey once more while hoping for a few clutch goals from their top six or their captain.
Detroit Red Wings (41-25-13 – 95 points)
The Detroit Red Wings have been consistent throughout the 2014-15 season, depending on the goaltending duo of Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek. Led by the usual candidates offensively in Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk, youngsters Tomas Tatar and Gustav Nyquist, and a strong defensive mentality, the Red Wings have continued being one of those teams to be a force in the East and a playoff team. Unfortunately this year, they have hit their lows more often than expected and during the final stretch leading to the end of the regular season, Detroit has put themselves into a sticky situation. Following their 2-1 regulation loss, the Red Wings fell out of their 3rd position in the Atlantic Division and now cling on for their lives in the final Eastern wild card spot.
The Red Wings are currently 5-2-3 in their last ten games. Here is a look at their final three games of their regular season.
Tuesday, April 7th – vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Detroit and Carolina have met just once this season but will play each other twice in the final week of the regular season. In their first meeting, the Red Wings edged the Hurricanes after a strong performance from their goaltending saw Mrazek stop 35 of 36 shots. Datsyuk, Tatar and Darren Helm all notched two points in the victory, and will look to help the Wings put the boot to Carolina in the final three games of the season.
Thursday, April 9th – @Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens have been somewhat of an Achilles heel to the Red Wings this season. The 2014-15 series has seen the Canadiens go 2-0-1, limiting Detroit’s scoring to just two goals in the three encounters. Goaltenders Carey Price and Dustin Tokarski have both appeared in the season series, with the result being the same. Should Detroit wish to claim two points in the last game of this series, they’ll need to find a way to keep Tomas Plekanec away, as the Czech forward had five points against them. Newly acquired forward Brian Flynn, along with defenseman P.K. Subban and winger Max Pacioretty all have four points, but Pacioretty is expected to miss the game, due to a possible concussion suffered in the 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers, last night.
Saturday, April 11th – @Carolina Hurricanes
If it didn’t succeed at first, try try again. At this point, if the Red Wings failed to grab a point or two against the Hurricanes the first time around, and at least a point against the Canadiens on Thursday, they may be on the outside looking in before the puck even drops.
Pittsburgh Penguins (44-26-11 – 95 points)
“What is going on in Pennsylvania?” Those were the words of Bob Cole during the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Five years later, and fans are wondering the same thing about their Penguins team, who has taken a fall from grace at the wrong time. Just two points up on the Senators, the Penguins latest loss, a 4-1 decision to the Flyers, has put a vise on their hopes of making the dance. With the same amount of games as the other three teams in the hunt, they’ll need to regroup and put this latest slump behind them if they wish to be a playoff team after this week is done. Of the three teams fighting, Pittsburgh likely has the easiest schedule going forward, but no game is won or loss on paper.
The Penguins are currently 3-6-1 in their last ten games. Here is a look at the final four games of their regular season.
Tuesday, April 7th – @Ottawa Senators
As aforementioned, this game is the most important one to the Senators, but it’s just as important to the Penguins. Lose this game, and you’ve put yourself into the role of catch-up, a place where Penguins fans never thought they’d see their team in, given the amount of talent loaded on both offense and defense. They’ll have to do it without the services of Kris Letang, who is out for the remainder of the season with a concussion. Both Malkin (three goals) and Crosby (two goals, one assist) lead the team in points in this series, but they’ll have to shut down both Ryan and Karlsson, whom both have three points as well, and they’ll face Hammond for the first time this season.
Friday, April 10th – vs. New York Islanders
Going 1-2-1 this season against the Islanders, the Penguins are matching up against them at just the right time, as the Isles have been struggling just as much down the stretch. At 3-5-2 in their last ten, the Islanders are struggling to find a way to make things work, but they’ll have to rely on Jaroslav Halak‘s continued steady work in goal against the Penguins. Both Patric Hornqvist and Malkin have dominated the season series with six points apiece, while Crosby trails behind with five points, but the Islanders top-six is nothing to scoff at. Both teams are looking to make ground and may tighten up defensively and opt for a lower-scoring game.
Saturday, April 11th – @Buffalo Sabres
The Penguins have made a mockery of Buffalo this season as much as the Sabres have made a mockery of their own season. Out-scoring the Sabres 11-1 in two contests, Crosby leads the way in scoring with an astounding eight assists. Posting a 3-6-1 record in their last ten games, identical to what the Penguins have done, there is no hope left in Buffalo for this season, and expect the Penguins to walk out with two points.
In, But Not Clinched
Washington Capitals (44-25-11 – 99 points)
With just two games remaining, the Capitals did themselves a favour by putting away Detroit last night. Looking ahead, they have both the Bruins and the Rangers to take care of before wrapping up the season and in order to secure a spot, they’ll need to win one and get at least a point in the other game. Fortunately for them, they have shut out the Bruins in both contests this season, but they have only picked up two points in three games against the Rangers.
New York Islanders (46-27-6 – 98 points)
After shutting out the Sabres 3-0, the Islanders now have the Flyers, Penguins and Blue Jackets left before their regular season comes to an end. Holding a winning record on all three teams, the Islanders need two regulation wins, including the game against the Penguins, to seal their spot in the playoffs. They could still finish 2nd in their division however, as the Capitals are just one point ahead of them.
Boston Bruins (41-25-13 – 95 points)
Following Detroit’s 2-1 loss to the Washington Capitals, and Ottawa only mustering up a point against the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins have leapfrogged over the Red Wings and into the 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division. All three of Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh have three games left and all hold 95 points, so nothing is guaranteed at this point. Their final three opponents are the Capitals, Panthers and Lightning, two of which are playoff teams at this point in the season and one that looks to play spoilers. Winning out is the only option for Boston, if they hope to be involved in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
With just one week remaining, who do you think makes it to the dance and which teams will be left sitting on the bench, without a partner to tango with?
