With a little less than a month remaining before the end of the regular season, it is crunch time for the teams battling it out to earn a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Tuesday night was no different, with a number of teams just on the edge of the playoffs in action, including a slate of games in the incredibly tight Western Conference races.
Here are some takeaways from Tuesday’s slate of NHL games in terms of the playoff races.
The Sabres actually had an impact on the playoff race
Leave it to Buffalo to be the worst team in the NHL, and well entrenched in the race for Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel, and yet still play a serious role in the race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Taking on the Bruins in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day, the Sabres weren’t in a festive mood, as they took down the home team 2-1 in a shootout. With a third period goal forcing the extra period, both teams goalies held strong for most of the shootout, with only Tyler Ennis getting past Niklas Svedberg to give Buffalo the win.
With the Bruins holding onto the final playoff spot, the shocking upset by the Sabres had to put a smile on the faces of a number of teams who have been struggling to keep up with Boston’s recent run of form.
Before suffering back-to-back defeats, against the Sabres and Capitals two days before, the Bruins had won five in a row and seven of eight to build a slight lead on the rest of the teams chasing a spot in the playoffs.
If this return to earth is a sign of things to come for Boston, then the final weeks of the season might have an added bit of intrigue that had nearly slipped away in the past month.
Senators gain some ground
The biggest threat to Boston’s playoff spot, had a rather successful Tuesday, with the division rival Ottawa Senators claiming an away overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Only a first period goal kept Ottawa from recording a shutout, with goaltender Andrew Hammond recording 35 saves in the 2-1 victory against Carolina
Although a win against the Hurricanes is nothing to write home about, it helped the Senators close the gap ever so slightly on Boston, who was threatening to pull away from the pack
While the Bruins were on good form for the last two weeks, the Senators have been hot themselves, winning four in a row and seven of eight. Wins against the Islanders, Canadiens and Jets proved what the Senators are capable of, but a loss to Boston might mean just as much because of the implications in the standings.
Now just four points back of the Bruins, Ottawa is likely to smell blood in the water, especially with a game against Boston scheduled for this Thursday that could be a vital point in the season for both teams.
Winnipeg jumps Calgary in the standings
With the juggernaut that the Central is this season, it seems like the Winnipeg Jets can kiss any shot of claiming one of the top three spots in the division goodbye. With the Blues, Predators and Blackhawks all on 90 or more points, it looks like the only hope for the Jets is the wild card.
With a well timed 5-2 win against the San Jose Sharks, who are also in the chase for the second wild-card spot, the Jets moved into a playoff position, one they will be hoping to hold onto for quite some time
The other piece that helped Winnipeg, who is on 82-points, jump back into a playoff position was the dismantling handed to the Calgary Flames by the St. Louis Blues.
The Flames are still very much in the running for a top-three finish in the Pacific—they are tied with the Kings on points—but without Mark Giordano for the stretch run, every loss is huge and could be detrimental to any playoff hopes Calgary has.
Once the playoffs are reached, anything can happen, and with a number of teams battling it out for a limited number of spots the Western Conference could see another team that just squeaked in make a run to the Stanley Cup.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1Cw1ND8
via IFTTT March 18, 2015 at 09:29AM
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