Penguins Vs. Eastern Conference (3/10)

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Mar 10, 11:49 AM | Hype this story!

After a two week hiatus, the standings segment has returned, and the Pittsburgh Penguins certainly have made their mark as a Stanley Cup contender. So, as always, let’s break down the Atlantic Division first, then we’ll take a look at the Eastern Conference.

Atop the division sits the New Jersey Devils, who have a game and a point in hand over the Penguins. Just below the Penguins sit the New York Rangers, who have turned it on as of late. What makes things somewhat dangerous for the Penguins, 5-3-2 in their last 10, is that both the Devils (7-2-1) and Rangers (8-0-2) have been red hot over the last 10 games.

Luckily, however, the Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-3) and New York Islanders (4-6-0) are posing much of a threat. At this point, it would appear the Islanders are all but out of the picture, while the Flyers just keep hanging on.

Atlantic Division Standings
    GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Away Div L 10 Streak
1 New Jersey 69 40 23 6 86 180 159 22-12-1 18-11-5 10-10-3 7-2-1 3 W
2 Pittsburgh 70 39 24 7 85 206 192 19-10-5 20-14-2 9-11-2 5-3-2 1 W
3 NY Rangers 69 36 24 9 81 183 169 22-13-1 14-11-8 15-6-1 8-0-2 1 W
4 Philadelphia 69 35 26 8 78 212 197 16-13-6 19-13-2 11-10-2 5-2-3 2 W
5 NY Islanders 70 32 31 7 71 170 204 17-16-3 15-15-4 12-12-0 4-6-0 2 L

The conference is relatively the same, though on a larger scale. Rather than breaking down each team’s play, I will simply list their playoff odds and the record needed to make the playoffs. Below that, find the current standings.

Record Needed to Reach 92 Pts / Playoff Odds
Team Record Odds Team Record Odds
New Jersey 3-10-0 99.9% Buffalo 9-4-0 25.6%
Pittsburgh 3-8-1 99.4% Washington 10-2-0 11.1%
Montreal 3-8-1 99.2% NY Islanders 10-1-1 4.1%
Ottawa 4-7-1 97.5% Toronto 10-1-0 1.9%
NY Rangers 5-7-1 94.9% Florida 11-1-0 5.9%
Boston 6-7-0 91.3% Atlanta 12-0-0 1.1%
Philadelphia 7-6-0 80.5% Tampa Bay Eliminated 0.0%
Carolina* 6-4-1 87.7%  
* Fewer than 92 pts. needed to clinch the Southeast Division

So, as can easily be seen, the Tampa Bay Lightning are out, while the Atlanta Thrashers, Florida Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Islanders, and Washington Capitals are all but eliminated.

Now it comes down to seeding, which will be interesting, to say the least.

Eastern Conference Standings
    GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Home Away Div L 10 Streak
1 New Jersey 69 40 23 6 86 180 159 22-12-1 18-11-5 10-10-3 7-2-1 3 W
2 Montreal 70 38 23 9 85 223 197 16-12-5 22-11-4 13-9-1 6-4-0 1 L
3 Carolina 71 37 29 5 79 216 221 21-12-3 16-17-2 15-8-1 7-2-1 4 W
4 Pittsburgh 70 39 24 7 85 206 192 19-10-5 20-14-2 9-11-2 5-3-2 1 W
5 Ottawa 70 38 25 7 83 223 209 20-12-3 18-13-4 14-8-0 3-5-2 1 W
6 NY Rangers 69 36 24 9 81 183 169 22-13-1 14-11-8 15-6-1 8-0-2 2 W
7 Boston 69 36 15 8 80 183 191 18-13-4 18-12-4 9-10-4 6-2-2 1 L
8 Philadelphia 69 35 26 8 78 212 197 16-13-6 19-13-2 11-10-2 5-2-3 2 W
9 Buffalo 69 32 27 10 74 209 201 17-13-4 15-14-6 10-10-3 4-4-2 2 L
10 Washington 70 32 30 8 72 203 209 17-15-3 15-15-5 10-11-3 4-4-2 2 L
11 Florida 71 32 31 8 72 190 200 14-13-7 18-18-1 12-10-1 5-3-2 4 W
12 NY Islanders 70 32 31 7 71 170 204 17-16-3 15-15-4 12-12-0 4-6-0 2 L
13 Toronto 70 30 30 10 70 196 216 16-14-5 14-16-5 11-8-4 6-3-1 1 L
14 Atlanta 70 30 32 8 68 186 230 17-15-3 13-17-5 12-9-2 1-5-4 1 L
15 Tampa Bay 69 26 35 8 60 189 225 16-17-2 10-18-6 10-12-2 1-7-2 5 L

Comments

  1. Jonathan Farzalo

    Mar 10, 12:13 PM

    oh i don’t want to play the Sens in round one again, no, not at all.

  2. Ashley Gallant

    Mar 10, 12:39 PM

    99.4% – I’m likin’ those odds of making the playoffs.

    I’m looking at the standings in the east, and I’m not sure where I’d like the Penguins to end up.

    What about another Ottawa-Pittsburgh matchup? The Senators haven’t been playing well, but they owned the Penguins a few weeks ago and if Bryan Murray can stabilize that mess of a dressing room…watch out.

    Montreal-Pittsburgh? Ugh, I don’t even want to go there.

    Let’s say Pittsburgh wins the division and goes up against Philadelphia. What an insane matchup that would be, and the last three games against the Flyers will better tell our odds of winning against Philly. My major concern, though, would be if the Flyers decided to go head hunting in the playoffs.

    How about Boston? They haven’t been so great in the last week, but they were on fire before that loss to Washington last Monday.

    And the Rangers? If they remain in the 6th seed, they will not face Pittsburgh (they’ll get to try to sweep the Southeast champ – again), but the Penguins will not have an easy task of eliminating the Rangers should this matchup occur. This season the Pens are 2-2-1 against the Rangers, so the three Rangers-Pens games this month should tell us more. However, overall, I think this matchup would give the Penguins the best chance at winning.

    In any case, the quarterfinals should be quite a series to watch. We should start stocking up on pizza and chips and pop and all that good stuff.

  3. Heath Condiotte

    Mar 10, 12:48 PM

    I would love to play the winner of the Southeast, but that would mean dropping to the 6 seed and losing home ice… Montreal would be quite a series of exciting hockey!

  4. Ashley Gallant

    Mar 10, 01:03 PM

    Indeed, a Montreal-Pittsburgh series would be fantastic, but I’m not sure I want to see my two favourite teams battle it out in the first round!

  5. Tim

    Mar 10, 02:37 PM

    Out of all the teams to see in the first I think Ottawa makes me the most nervous. They have all the talent in the world and there style of hockey really keeps the Pens off there game. I think they are tough. Sure they haven’t been playing great lately but I want no part of them if they get it together.

    Any word on Hossa? Him and Sid need to get together on the ice to build some chemistry for the playoffs.

  6. Eric

    Mar 11, 01:39 AM

    The team the Penguins should want to play the most are the Sabres. The Penguins match up better to their style than any other team. The rest of the field has something that the Penguins have a problem dealing with. Plus, the Sabres aren’t the most physical team. Something that the Penguins will want to avoid, again.

    And it’s for certain that the Penguins do not want to play a Canadian team without home-ice-advantage. A playoff atmosphere in Canada is their “6th player”, a tough aspect to overcome in the playoffs. Some of the U.S. teams will have loud fans, but it doesn’t compare.

  7. DaBich

    Mar 11, 07:40 AM

    Anyway you look at it, the quarter finals are gonna be tough.
    Ashley, don’t forget the hot wings! =D

Commenting is closed for this article.