Just like Thursday, everything remains the same in the Metro, but this time the Isles, Caps, and Pens all lost today. Penguins with a surprising 5-1 home loss to the Blues, Isles with a 2-1 road loss to the Red Wings, and the Caps with a 6-3 road loss to the juggernaut Lightning. It was a good game though, with 2 of those goals being empty net goals at the end, right after the Caps nearly tied it. Tampa Bay is the best team in the league, but I still think they are beatable.
Very tough to win under those circumstances-----> They had SIX power plays we had two------> take the 2 points and run
Flyers tie it in regulation with 18 seconds left and they win in OT with 3 seconds left Pitt now behind us by 3 pts
You guys may not like the Islanders play as of late, but that is Trotz hockey. Winning ugly is important. Keep putting up W's, while not playing your best, is key in the NHL and Trotz is great at it. I am not actually sure how he does it since it is such a fine line, but he finds a way. So now we have 10 games left, and the Islanders and Capitals are tied for 1st with 91 points and somehow identical records of 42-23-7. Pretty crazy. Truly it is 9 games left, then the Isles-Caps regular season finale. We will see if they are still tied by then. The Penguins, Hurricanes, and Bluejackets are so close in the standings right now, who knows what the playoff match-ups will be? The important part is getting in and the Islanders are in good shape for that.
Frustrating part is not the Style of play its that this team has been playing poorly since the Allstar Break but the amazing part is the record Trotz has put together.This team is in desperate need of offense as we have 1 guy that can score = Lee and too many guys who can't finish. It will be fun to see how this plays out but yep its painful to watch at times.
The Isles and Caps are in a good spot as far as getting in. There are 2 races here. One is with the Isles, Caps, Pens, Canes, Jackets for the division/playoff seeding. The other is clinching a playoff spot. Montreal is currently the 9th place team in the EC. I think they mentioned that the magic number for the Isles(same for the Caps) to clinch is 11 points. Any combination of points gained/lost by the Isles/Caps and Habs will clinch a playoff spot.
Bruins on deck tonight,,,,when exactly was the last time we beat these guys ? NOT a good matchup for us that said LGI
Busy night on the scoreboard as well. 1. Bruins at Isles 2. Caps at Devils 3. Pens at Canes 4. Jackets at Flames 5. Canadiens at Flyers for magic number purposes only.
This has been the most fun NHL regular season I have watched in many years. Not just because the Caps and your Head Coach are defending Stanley Cup champions, but because it has been so competitive in the East and the Metro. Makes it much more entertaining. Iron sharpens iron.
