The Situation at hand, the Rangers have 82 points, the Flyers 84, the Bruins 84, Canadians 86 and the Atlanta Thrashers 81.
Games remaining Rangers 4, Flyers 3, Bruins 4, Canadians 3 and the Atlanta Thrashers 3.
Ok, now we'll go through each teams games left, home and away with the out comes of the matches and see who makes it into the second season. The final standings will be at the end of the article.
Atlanta Thrashers are at ninth place with 81 points and three games remaining. Well Atlanta, it looks like your hill will be the greatest to climb. With only three games left the teams you have to play are the New Jersey Devils at home, on the road against the Washington Capitals and at home again against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Your two home games are going to be ruff one's due to the fact the Penguins and Devils are still playing for something, the division title. Which means home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Capitals already clinched the President's trophy but I wouldn't expect them to sit back and lose the game on purpose. Prediction Atlanta finishes their last three games at 1-1-1 giving them a total of 84 points.
Next up the New York Rangers with 82 points. The Rangers have been the hottest team of the five teams looking to get into the final three playoff spots, however they are still on the out side looking in at ninth place. They do control their own destiny if they win the rest of their games out right as going four for four will get them in but it won't be easy with a home and home at the end of the season verses the Philadelphia Flyers. The Rangers four remaining games are home games against the Flyers and Maple Leafs and road games against the Buffalo Sabers and Flyers again. Prediction the Rangers will go 2-0-2 in their final four games and finish with 88 points.
The Boston Bruins have four games left and stand at 84 points, hence another team with a tuff schedule. They will have to play two road games against Alex Ovechkin and home games against the Buffalo Sabers and the Carolina Hurricanes. Bruins have been playing decent hockey lately snatching two much needed overtime victories against the Devils and Maple Leafs. Those two extra points could save their bid for the second season but maybe not. I see them going 2-2 in their final four and finishing up with 88 points.
The Philadelphia Flyers have 84 points with three games remaining. The Flyers have been on a downward spiral of late having goalie problems but picked up a huge win against the Detroit Redwings on Easter Sunday. The Redwings have been the hottest team in the league who haven't lost a game in regulation since Philly beat them 4-3. That game will give them motivation in their final three games but I see them going 1-1-1 in those games finishing up with 87 points.
Montreal Canadians have 86 points with three games remaining. They lead the pack and by my predictions so far it looks like they will only need three points out of their three remaining games to get a fresh start. Let see their schedule looks like this on the road against the Islanders, Hurricanes and the season finale at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs. All three of the teams the Canadians will face will not make the playoffs, however they will be trying to play spoiler. And all of these three teams have proved to be tuff opponents of late. Montreal will go 1-1-1 finish with 89 points and make the playoffs.
If my predictions are correct the final standings will go like this: Canadians with 89 points, Bruins with 88 points, Rangers with 88 points, Flyers with 87 points and the Thrashers with 84 points. Flyers and Thrashers miss the playoffs.
Follow all these teams down the stretch with video recaps: http://www.puckvideo.com
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