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Well, we’re down to 5 weeks in the season, and the Eastern Conference playoff
race continues to be pretty tight.  The New York Islanders, the Montreal
Canadiens, the Buffalo Sabres, and the Florida Panthers all are making pushes
for the playoffs, however, there are just 2 spots available for these teams,
barring an incredible collapse from either the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple
Leafs, or the New Jersey Devils.

The purpose of this article:  To analyze the schedule for the 4 teams
vying for the 7th and 8th playoff spots.  We’ll begin with listing the
actual standings of the 4 teams.

Team	Record	Points
7) Montreal Canadiens	33-25-6-2	74
8) New York Islanders	30-23-9-2	71
9) Buffalo Sabres	28-30-6-1	63
10) Florida Panthers	23-26-13-3	62

Standings as of games played through February 28, 2004.

As it appears, it seems as if it would require a large collapse from either
the Habs or Isles for Buffalo or Florida to make the postseason, however, this
may not be the case.  Montreal is considered to have the most difficult
schedule down the stretch of any team in the NHL, while the Islanders have a
fairly easy one.

So, without further ado, let’s do an analysis of the schedules for the teams
in the hunt for the playoffs, starting with the Montreal Canadiens.

Date	Matchup	Above/Below .500
March 1	New Jersey at Montreal	Above
March 3	Montreal at San Jose	Above
March 5	Montreal at Phoenix	Below
March 6	Montreal at Los Angeles	Above
March 8	Montreal at Anaheim	Below
March 11	Florida at Montreal	Below
March 13	Colorado at Montreal	Above
March 16	Toronto at Montreal	Above
March 19	Montreal at New Jersey	Above
March 20	New Jersey at Montreal	Above
March 24	Montreal at Buffalo	Below
March 25	Ottawa at Montreal	Above
March 27	Montreal at Boston	Above
March 31	Montreal at NY Islanders	Above
April 1	Philadelphia at Montreal	Above
April 3	Buffalo at Montreal	Below

Analysis

Number of home games remaining: 8

Number of away games remaining: 8

Number of games versus teams above .500: 11

Number of games versus teams below .500: 5

 

Next, the New York Islanders:

Date	Matchup	Above/Below .500
Feb. 29	Pittsburgh at NY Islanders	Below
March 2	NY Islanders at Pittsburgh	Below
March 4	NY Islanders at Toronto	Above
March 6	St. Louis at NY Islanders	Above
March 9	NY Islanders at St. Louis	Above
March 11	NY Islanders at San Jose	Above
March 12	NY Islanders at Anaheim	Below
March 16	NY Islanders at Tampa Bay	Above
March 17	NY Islanders at Florida	Below
March 19	Minnesota at NY Islanders	Below
March 21	Tampa Bay at NY Islanders	Above
March 23	Washington at NY Islanders	Below
March 25	NY Islanders at Philadelphia	Above
March 27	Carolina at NY Islanders	Below
March 28	NY Islanders at New Jersey	Above
March 31	Montreal at NY Islanders	Above
April 2	NY Islanders at Carolina	Below
April 4	Philadelphia at NY Islanders	Above

Analysis

Number of home games remaining: 8

Number of away games remaining: 10

Number of games versus teams above .500: 10

Number of games versus teams below .500: 8

 

Next, the Buffalo Sabres:

Date	Matchup	Above/Below .500
March 3	Ottawa at Buffalo	Above
March 6	Buffalo at Toronto	Above
March 7	St. Louis at Buffalo	Above
March 10	Buffalo at Washington	Below
March 11	Boston at Buffalo	Above
March 13	Buffalo at Boston	Above
March 15	Toronto at Buffalo	Above
March 17	Buffalo at Atlanta	Below
March 18	Buffalo at Tampa Bay	Above
March 20	Buffalo at Florida	Below
March 24	Montreal at Buffalo	Above
March 26	Pittsburgh at Buffalo	Below
March 27	Buffalo at Pittsburgh	Below
March 29	Columbus at Buffalo	Below
March 31	Buffalo at New York	Below
April 2	Toronto at Buffalo	Above
April 3	Buffalo at Montreal	Above

Analysis

Number of home games remaining: 8

Number of away games remaining: 9

Number of games versus teams above .500: 10

Number of games versus teams below .500: 7

 

And finally, there’s the Florida Panthers:

Date	Matchup	Above/Below .500
Feb. 29	Florida at Chicago	Below
March 2	Florida at Washington	Below
March 3	New Jersey at Florida	Above
March 6	Tampa Bay at Florida	Above
March 9	Florida at Toronto	Above
March 11	Florida at Montreal	Above
March 13	NY Rangers at Florida	Below
March 17	NY Islanders at Florida	Above
March 19	Florida at Atlanta	Below
March 20	Buffalo at Florida	Below
March 23	New Jersey at Florida	Above
March 25	Florida at Carolina	Below
March 27	Atlanta  at Florida	Below
March 29	Carolina at Florida	Below
March 31	Ottawa at Florida	Above
April 1	Florida at Tampa Bay	Above
April 4	Carolina at Florida	Below

Analysis

Number of home games remaining: 10

Number of away games remaining: 7

Number of games versus teams above .500: 8

Number of games versus teams below .500: 9

 

So, as you can see, the Habs do play the most games against teams above .500,
while the Panthers play the fewest of these particular games.  Florida also
has the most home games, while the Islanders have the most road games. 
What does it all mean?  It means there’s still plenty of hockey to be
played, and it’s probably too early to begin fretting over the schedule. 
Oh well, it’s here for you now anyways… 

With 5 weeks to go, it’s getting to be crunch time in the NHL, and if the
Sabres and Panthers want to make the playoffs, they need to go on a winning
streak, and soon.  As for the Habs and Isles, they control their own
destiny, if they win, they’re in, but if they go on a losing streak, then they
could be in trouble.  Hockey fans, don’t touch that dial, we’re in for an
exciting finish to the season.

For Hab fans, here’s a little numbers crunch.  If the Habs were to play
.500 hockey (8-8-0-0) in their remaining games, it would take these records from
their opponents to catch/tie them:

New York Islanders:  9-8-1-0 (71+19)

Buffalo Sabres:  13-3-1-0 (63+27)

Florida Panthers:  14-3-0-0 (62+28)

*Remember, this is only IF the Habs play .500 hockey down the stretch; if
they do better, it becomes virtually impossible to be caught by Buffalo and
Florida, but if they play under .500, then it becomes easier to be caught. 
The skinny:  If they win, they’re in, simple as that.

Questions/comments?  E-mail me at [email protected].

As for last week’s trivia question, the answer is C –
Detroit.  The 1985-86 Red Wings compiled a less than stellar 40
points that season.