The NHL playoff race is usually on the backburner of most hockey fans’ minds until at least after the All-Star break but in 2016, it is heating up earlier than expected.
At just over the halfway mark of the season, most division and wild-card races are tight, with little margin of error and two points being extremely valuable, night-in and night-out.
This is exactly what the league wants for excitement and for T.V. ratings from February right through April, and into the playoffs. Media outlets are already screeching “a playoff-type game”, “post-season spot on the line” and “two huge points” on headlines. On Saturday, the Leafs lost to the Bruins in a playoff-type atmosphere at the TD Garden, the Canadiens played physical hockey in St. Louis and the Flames fell just short of a victory in Edmonton in a rare, highly-anticipated battle of Alberta.
LWOS takes a look at the NHL playoff race in each division heading into the All-Star break in just over a week’s time.
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Predictably the weakest division going into the season, it has become the most unpredictable. The Florida Panthers are on top by three points over the Detroit Red Wings and are in a good spot to make the playoffs for the first time since 2012. The 2015 Division Champions, the Montreal Canadiens, are slowly slipping out of the NHL playoff race. They are currently holding down the second wild-card spot, one point behind the Bruins, who have two games in hand.
The Panthers recently had a 12-game winning streak ended by the Vancouver Canucks but have been slipping a bit since. With a short lead holding down their number one position, Florida needs to play consistent hockey and win those important division games.
Boston is also a bit of a surprise in this race. They missed the playoffs last season, hired a new general manager and changed a majority of their roster. After a slow start, the Bruins are back in the hunt and look poised to do some damage down the stretch. Only a single point behind the third-placed Lightning- who have won five straight games- and two behind the Red Wings, Boston will need as many points as possible with divisional games coming up against Montreal, Toronto and Buffalo.
Metropolitan Division
The tightest division in the league is also home to the best team in the league, the Washington Capitals and the largest point separation between two consecutive teams. The Capitals are 17 points up on the second-placed Islanders, but after that, only six points separates the Islanders and the seventh-placed Carolina Hurricanes.
All teams in the tight race have faced distractions and gone through streaks this season. The current dwellers of the five, six and seven spots, the Flyers, Devils and Hurricanes, were all not expected to do serious damage in the standings but have managed to stay in the hunt. The Penguins fired their coach earlier in the season but are only one point out of the playoffs.
The Islanders, although a good team looking for their third playoff birth in the past four seasons, including their first back-to-back qualifications since 2003 and 2004, have been distracted with Travis Hamonic trade rumours and have missed key pieces, such as Johnny Boychuk, Ryan Strome and Hamonic, due to injuries.
The Rangers have not been playing up to expectations, with only four ten-plus goal-scorers, including twelve from their big man, Rick Nash. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is playing good, with a 20-12-4 record, 2.46 GAA and 0.921 SV%, but is not great.
Western Conference
Central Division
The least enticing of the divisions is by far the powerhouse Central Division. The Chicago Blackhawks, on an 11-game winning streak, and the Dallas Stars, are comfortably on top, with the St. Louis Blues not far behind. After the Blues, the Wild are trailing by seven points but do have three games in hand. The Predators (48 points), Avalanche (47 points) and Jets (45) are all battling for the wild-card spots in the NHL playoff race.
The most exciting part of the NHL playoff race in this division is the race to the top. The Blackhawks are skating around opponents and are arguably playing their best hockey since they went 21-0-3 to start the 2013 season, en route to the Stanley Cup. The defending Cup champions are backed behind the career-best play by Patrick Kane, who is in the talk for the Hart Trophy.
Right behind Kane for the league lead in points is The Stars Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. The duo produced firepower in the Lone Star State but fell off a bit at the start of the New Year. They were back on the score sheet in the past few games and look to slingshot the Stars past the Blackhawks before the playoffs begin.
The stars of the league will fight for the number one spot in the Central Division.
Pacific Division
Outside of the L.A. Kings, this is the weakest, yet most par division in the NHL. Only seven points separates the number two Arizona Coyotes and the last-placed Edmonton Oilers. Realistically, all those teams have a shot at the playoffs and the West can get wild right until April.
The San Jose Sharks currently have five-game win streak and the Flames recently had theirs terminated by the Oilers last week. The Canucks might be finally gelling as a team and the Ducks are pushing hard for a spot in the playoffs. The Coyotes claimed their spot as buyers when they acquired Jarred Tinordi in a three-team trade last week. The Oilers are expecting to have their franchise player, Connor McDavid back soon enough.
Only the Kings and Sharks have a positive goal differential in the division, signifying the possibility of some unpredictable games for the teams in the hunt and a great fight to the finish.
The NHL playoff race is starting before the All-Star break and should continue it’s great entertainment right until the post-season begins in the spring.
Main Photo.
