03/22/2010 - Today's Games

Well, there's a bit of a problem with the "catch the other teams" bit and getting out the lottery positions. Tampa Bay seems to be imploding and only Carolina and Florida of the other teams in our neighborhood have decent records over the past ten games (with both of those teams clocking 5-4-1 records, and Tampa Bay scoring an abysmal 2-7-1).

Wait, that's not the problem. That's the good news.

The problem lies in the fact that a lot of these teams seem to be playing each other in the near future. Which makes sense, I suppose, seeing as Carolina, Tampa, and Florida are all in the rather weak Southeast division. (As an aside, the Southeast has taken up four of the bottom ten spots in the league, which puts Washington's stellar record into a bit of a dubious light).

For example, Tampa Bay, over the next ten games, plays Carolina and Florida twice. While Tampa Bay's recent poor play does imply that they'll likely lose these games, it has the unfortunate side effect of boosting the stats of other teams we're trying to catch.

Ah, well. C'est la vie. To today's games.

           (30-34-8, 68 PTS)                                 (28-32-12, 68 PTS)

7:30 PM - NHL.COM PREVIEW 

SEASON SERIES: 2-2

This game annoys me. Unfortunately, the best we can hope for is that Carolina manages to utterly destroy the Lightning, shatters their spirits, and send them plummeting in the standings. Or at least that one of these teams wins in regular time. A 3-point game in this situation is the worst possible outcome.

          (29-31-12, 70 PTS)                                (42-25-4, 88 PTS)

7:00 PM - NHL.COM PREVIEW

SEASON SERIES: First Meeting.

This bodes well, I suppose. Columbus up against a strong New Jersey squad, although New Jersey has been having some difficulties with their power play of late (they've gone 0-17 in six games). New Jersey has a marginally better record over the past ten games (5-4-1 to Columbus' 4-3-3). We'll see how his one goes - for whatever reason, I have a gut feeling that Columbus will somehow pull out a win on this one.

            (46-22-5, 97 PTS)                                (45-19-7, 97 PTS)

8:30 PM - NHL.COM PREVIEW

SEASON SERIES: 3-0 Phoenix

This game is as far from being relevant for the Leafs as its possible to be, but that won't stop me from bringing it up. The Coyotes, which are incessantly being described as "upstart", will be able to take both the lead in the Western Conference and likely secure a playoff berth with a win tonight; mind you, the Blackhawks can do the same thing with a win in this game. The idea of Phoenix taking the lead in anything just strikes me as ridiculous, but there you are.