Race for the Atlantic Division Crown

[theLgndKllr35]

With only 10+ games remaining in the regular season, the race for the top spot in the Atlantic is certainly up for grabs.

Here's how the standings stack up right now between the three teams...

1. New York Rangers (95 points) 11 games left
2. Pittsburgh Penguins (94 points) 11 games left
3. Philadelphia Flyers (92 points) 10 games left

I left out the Devils, who sit at 87 points and 10 games left, because it just seems like too big a deficit for them to take home the title, especially with the recent streaks of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Here's how the remaining schedules look...

New York Rangers
March
Devils at Rangers 19th
Red Wings at Rangers 21st
Sabres at Rangers 23rd
Rangers at Maple Leafs 24th
Rangers at Wild 27th
Rangers at Jets 28th
Canadiens at Rangers 30th

April
Bruins at Rangers 1st
Rangers at Flyers 3rd
Rangers at Penguins 5th
Capitals at Rangers 7th

Pittsburgh Penguins
March
Jets at Penguins 20th
Predators at Penguins 22nd
Penguins at Senators 24th
Devils at Penguins 25th
Islanders at Penguins 27th
Penguins at Islanders 29th
Penguins at Sabres 30th

April
Flyers at Penguins 1st
Penguins at Bruins 3rd
Rangers at Penguins 5th
Flyers at Penguins 7th

Philadelphia Flyers
March
Panthers at Flyers 20th
Capitals at Flyers 22nd
Canadiens at Flyers 24th
Lightning at Flyers 26th
Flyers at Maple Leafs 29th
Senators at Flyers 31st

April
Flyers at Penguins 1st
Rangers at Flyers 3rd
Sabres at Flyers 5th
Flyers at Penguins 7th

Looking at each team's remaining games at a glance, it would seem Pittsburgh probably has the toughest schedule, with the Flyers having the easiest. With the way Pittsburgh has been playing recently, and them having three home games against the Flyers (x2) and Rangers, it would seem things probably shape up for them to take home the crown if they can keep it up. However, with the Rangers somewhat tough schedule, I can see the Flyers taking the 4th seed and drawing the Rangers in the 1st round.

[Randall Stevens]

yea I wish we could play the Islanders a couple more times lol, but the rest of March on the Flyers schedule looks very favorable to me.

1st or 6th place please! with this team, home-ice advantage is A BAD thing

[phillyeaglesman]

yea I wish we could play the Islanders a couple more times lol, but the rest of March on the Flyers schedule looks very favorable to me.

1st or 6th place please! with this team, home-ice advantage is A BAD thing

well if they finish 1st, then they would have HIA, so....



anyway, i disagree. if this was a month ago, i would have agreed with you. however, they've played very well at home over the past couple weeks. the fans are really getting into the games now, Bryz is playing well, and that just elevates the crowd to a whole other level, really.


the Flyers need to get back to making Philly a tough place to play again. if they get the #1 seed i think they'll find a way to make that happen.

[crzyhawk]

I think in the playoffs, the energy level will be at a whole new level at home. I can't see it being anything /but/ an advantage. That said, I don't want the Penguins in round 1.

[theLgndKllr35]

I don't want the Penguins or the Rangers in Round 1. I'd rather play anybody else.

That's not to say I'm scared of those teams, rather those are the two best teams in the conference, why would you want to play them?

[LLMunchie619]

For once, I just feel like we are going to be the team that is the hottest and best in the East going into the playoffs. The past few years there was always a team that I said I was worried about, but this year there really isn't a team. Maybe the Rangers, but they are not playing good hockey right now and we just beat the hottest (and probably the best all around) team in the east.

[ryguy553]

I don't know I want no part of the Penguins in a 7 game series. They honestly to me have the 2 best players in the Nhl on the same roster. Who are the Rangers biggest threats? Brad Richards and Gaborik? I will take my chances with that.

[phillyeaglesman]

I don't know I want no part of the Penguins in a 7 game series. They honestly to me have the 2 best players in the Nhl on the same roster. Who are the Rangers biggest threats? Brad Richards and Gaborik? I will take my chances with that.

Hank.

As good as Fleury is, Hank is in the Flyers' heads at the moment. He's by far the Rangers' biggest threat.


Look, the way I see it, the Flyers will be facing one if not both of these teams in the playoffs; it's really just a matter of when.


I say forget about where you finish, just finish strong, and everything will take care of itself.

[Burkey3472]

I honestly thinks its pretty much a lock they will get either the 4-5 seed. 5 points in 10 games is tough to imagine unless we go 9-1 or close to it down the stretch.

[WoodandNails]

These past three days have really hurt the Flyers chances at the No. 1 seed. Rangers gained 4 points against two of the tougher teams on their remaining schedule and are 7 points ahead of us now.

I'm torn on who I want to win the Atlantic, if it's not us. Part of me really wants to see New York fall out of first after holding the lead for practically the whole year. On the other hand, if we could pass Pittsburgh, gain home ice and knock Pittsburgh out of the playoffs in a year when many pundits are calling them the team to beat in the NHL.

Pitt would be a tougher opponent for sure, but it would also be a much more satisfying series win, if we pull it off.

Maybe we can get the best of both worlds and run through New York in the first round on our way to getting hot and defeating Pittsburgh in the ECF. All this thinking has gotten me really excited for April (and May). Hopefully we can finish out the regular strong and make these fantasies a reality.

(EDIT: Dream playoffs: Beating New York in the ECQF, coming back from a 3-2 game deficit against the Bruins in the Conf. Semi-Finals, then moving onto a surprise Finals match-up with Los Angeles after beating Pittsburgh in the ECF )

[LLMunchie619]

...Man, I am just hoping for once we go into the playoffs hot and the rest of the field cools off...

[Hatch]

I don't worry who we're going to end up facing come playoff time. Sometimes that's too much distraction. If we're playing well and Bryz is staying strong then we're capable of beating anyone. The Rangers obviously have our number this year and Hank is a beast. But a confident Bryz and Grossman/Kubina on D levels the playing field a little more IMO. Would be a great series...

[StryderSox]

I don't want the Penguins or the Rangers in Round 1. I'd rather play anybody else.

That's not to say I'm scared of those teams, rather those are the two best teams in the conference, why would you want to play them?

Actually I wouldn't mind playing either of them in the first round. If we want to win the Cup we have to beat both of them anyway and opening the playoffs by eliminating one of the big contenders is the kind of thing that gets your team believing that they might just be good enough to go all the way. Worst case scenario we go out in the first round and Homer takes a good long look at what we are missing and makes a push to fix it. If we go deep and lose to the Rangers or Pens in the Conference Final its fun to watch but in the eyes of the front office there isn't as much pressure to find a way to fill the holes.

I say embrace a first round matchup wth the Pens or Rangers and really find out if we have something to get excited about. Its not like there will be any help coming back in the second round except for Mes unless you believe that Pronger is pulling a fast one and is progressing a lot better than anyone has let on.

[1908_Cubs]

Put it this way, I'd really like to take the Pens in round 1. We're 3-1 against them on the season. We've got Talbot on the team who knows their system better than anyone else on the team. We've got the fire. And we've got this new, rejuvenated Bryzgalov.

Also it does one thing for us: it means we can probably miss the Rangers until the conference finals. The 6 seed probably drops Florida. Which means come re-seeding, we'll get the Bruins. And I'd much rather see Boston than NYR in the 2nd round. A matchup against the 3 seed means we're probably setting up a date with the Rangers in round 2.