Who’s making it into the NHL Playoffs: Eastern Conference

Right now the standings in the Eastern Conference are as follows:

Rank	Team	Games Played	Wins	Losses	OT Losses	Pts
1	Pittsburgh Penguins	31	23	8	0	46
2	Montreal Canadiens	29	19	5	5	43
3	Winnipeg Jets	30	16	12	2	34
4	Boston Bruins	28	19	6	3	41
5	Ottawa Senators	30	16	8	6	38
6	Carolina Hurricanes	29	15	12	2	32
7	Toronto Maple Leafs	29	15	12	2	32
8	New York Rangers	29	15	12	2	32
9	New Jersey Devils	30	13	11	6	32
10	New York Islanders	29	13	13	3	29
11	Tampa Bay Lightning	29	13	15	1	27
12	Philadelphia Flyers	30	13	16	1	27
13	Buffalo Sabres	30	11	15	4	26
14	Washington Capitals	29	12	16	1	25
15	Florida Panthers	30	8	16	6	22

Teams that are guaranteed a spot (baring any serious breakdowns) are: Pittsburgh, Montreal, and Boston. These three teams have dominated this year with Montreal being the biggest surprise out of the group. These teams realistically have to play .500 hockey to get into the playoffs and maybe even less if they can sneak into overtime and snag an extra point.

Teams that might make it are: Just about everyone else. Things aren’t as tight as they are in the West but its pretty close. Ottawa could have been slotted in the guarantee pile however a couple of losses could see them playing golf early. Winnipeg is desperately holding on to a division lead over Carolina who is one win back of having the same record as them. Toronto cost themselves a cushion by playing without desperation the last six games and New Jersey, well they’re experiencing life without Brodeur (and it’s not pretty). The Rangers should make the playoffs but who deserves to make it has never been who has made it. The Islanders need better goaltending from Nabokov if they want in and Tampa Bay has to learn how to play defence.

Teams that everyone knows won’t make it are: The Caps, Panthers, Flyers, and Sabres. It doesn’t take a genius to say Florida and Washington aren’t making the playoffs but it still is sort of a surprise. The latter more than the former as the Caps have completely fallen apart. This team lives and dies with Ovechkin and unfortunately he’s not doing too well these days. Buffalo has problems everywhere and needs a change of management and a couple of trades to shake up the locker room. Philadelphia has embarrassed themselves this year and deserve to miss out on the playoffs. Daniel Briere, and Simon Gagne have completely lost their game and though the Flyers defence has been awful, it’s become clear that Bryzgalov is not a big game goaltender (needed to win last three games).

History would suggest that the star studded New York Rangers will sneak into the playoffs as will the Ottawa Senators who have been the great underdog story of this season. Carolina is a big “what if” because they’re playing without number 1 goalie Cam Ward. Luckily, Dan Ellis has played well for them this year and with the likes of Jeff Skinner, Eric Stall, Jordan Stall, and Alex Semin they stand a chance of making it. The New Jersey Devils have goaltending issues and offensive issues and even the return of the great Brodeur won’t stop this team from crumbling if coach Peter Deboer doesn’t find a way to spark some passion into that locker room. Toronto is in the Carolina category and will rely on some strong goaltending from Reimer who has been shaky of late.

With all of that said, here are my predictions of who is going to make playoffs in the Eastern Conference this year.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins

2. Boston Bruins

3. Montreal Canadiens

4. Carolina Hurricanes.

5. New York Rangers

6.  Ottawa Senators

7.  Carolina Hurricanes

8. Toronto Maple Leafs