The Last Ticket to the Dance
As the NHL regular season comes down to the final 10 games, many teams have already, or will shortly be clinching their spot in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Currently, four out of a possible eight teams in the Eastern Conference have clinched a spot, while three more are closing in behind them. This leaves one more spot available for one team to keep their hopes of a Stanley Cup alive.
Image from NBC News
The Washington Capitals sit in the second wild card spot with three other teams chasing right behind them. The Detroit Red Wings sit directly behind them with 79 points only two behind the Capitals, the Islanders behind them with 77 points, and finally the New Jersey Devils with 76 points. The Red Wings and the Devils both have 73 games played while the Capitals and Islanders sit with 72 games played giving them a game in hand to possibly jump further ahead of the others. If this isn’t the greatest way to close out a season, then I don't know what else is. To make it even more interesting, all four of these teams will play five out of their remaining games against teams who currently sit in a playoff position.
There is no team who seems to have an edge on one another with schedule difficulty, and it seems to be one of the tightest finishes in regular season history. As we saw last year however, the Pittsburgh Penguins in their second to last regular season game, dropped a crucial game to the Chicago Blackhawks. At the time the Blackhawks were tied for the 3rd worst team in the league based on the standings. This ultimately eliminated them allowing the New York Islanders to jump in front of them in their last game of the season. If the message isn’t clear, there is no margin for error.
As the better teams begin to gear up for their push to the cup, these remaining four teams will have to fight to the finish. These final games will be a hockey fan's dream. To see which of the four teams prove to be the strongest enough to inch their way past the others and punch their ticket to the big dance.
