Yesterday, the Bruins beat the Stars so they bumped the Leafs out of the divisional playoffs and back into the second wild card spot. Columbus and the Rangers fought over who gets the beat up the Atlantic winner, and the Rangers were the winner of that by losing the game.
Ottawa beat the Panthers to get closer to Montreal for the division lead, and give themselves a bigger cushion for home ice in the playoffs. And some other loser teams played, but who cares about them.
Games that matter:
Montreal Canadiens @ New Jersey Devils
Ottawa Senators @ Tampa Bay Lightning
The Devils and Lightning are out of it, the Canadiens are on the brink of losing first place in the division. Ottawa could tie them in points tonight, and have one game in hand. The team to cheer for all depends on who you want the Leafs to play in the first round, assuming they make it back into the divisional playoff spots.
If you want chaos in the division, and a super close playoff race, root for the Devils and Lightning in regulation.
If you want the Senators for a guaranteed series win, Cheer for Montreal over New Jersey (any kind of win) and the Lightning to defeat the Senators in regulation. This will give the Habs a four point lead over the Senators.
If you want to rekindle the Montreal/Toronto rivalry root for the Devils to beat Montreal in regulation and the Senators to beat Tampa Bay in any way they can, and go on a win streak.
The real winner no matter what are us, Leafs fans, since the division winner will either play Columbus or the New York Rangers, they’ll ether be eliminated or roughed up after a seven game series when we face them in round two.
Again, assuming the Leafs won’t play Washington in round one. Which would be bad.
Game that doesn’t matter:
Los Angeles Kings @ Minnesota Wild
For our friends at Raw Charge, a win for LA gets the Bolts closer to a better return on Ben Bishop. If you don’t care about that, Go Minnesota! LA missing the playoffs would be fun.
