NO-GAME DAY(s) - Scoreboard Watching, Tuesday-Friday, March 27-30, 2012

The Sens are off until Saturday, and will be anxiously watching the scoreboard to see if their precarious 4-point lead holds. Both the Sabres and Capitals sit 4 points back, and both hold a game in hand. The Jets, while not technically eliminated, had their elimination number reduced to 6 last night, courtesy of His Alfiness. And tonight, either the Caps or the Sabres will grab 2 points, so the Jets will be down to 4. They are done, they just don't know it yet.

Games of interest tonight:

Buffalo @ Washington
As already mentioned, both are 4 points back and hold a game in hand. After tonight, the games in hand are gone, and one of them will be just 2 points back. Please, God, no three-point game.

Chicago @ New Jersey
The Sens are just 2 points back of the Devils for the coveted 6th seed (well, it's not as coveted as it used to be, since the 3rd place Panthers are just 4 points back of the 2nd place Bruins). The Devils have one game in hand, and the Sens play them one more time on the last day of the season. If the Hawks win, in regulation, then the Sens will control their destiny -- they would be able to move up at least to 6th by winning their remaining games.

Tampa @ Boston
The Sens are just 3 points back of Boston, although Boston has 2 games in hand. It will take more than a loss tonight and Ottawa winning their remaining games, but passing the Bruins and grabbing 2nd is not (yet) outside the realm of possibilities.

Oh how sweet 6th place would be. A first round matchup with the Panthers INSTEAD of Boston or Pittsburgh or the Rangers or Philly...YES PLEASE.

Hard to say who has the edge tonight for the Caps/Sabres tilt. The Sabres have been red hot lately, so I'd pick them if I had to make a choice.

We are 3-1 against both the Rangers and Penguins. We are also 3-1 against the Panthers, but the games have been much closer (two of the three wins were 3-4 games, one of them in OT). We are 1-1-1 against the Flyers and Devils. And, while we are just 1-4 against the Bruins, we beat them the last time we played, outplayed them the last two games, and they have not been the juggernaut they were earlier in the season.

It's not that bleak.

i still think meeting the rangers might be our best option. boston could be cool also but both teams might come down to how their goalies perform

So Buffalo, Jersey, and Boston all won. Not the outcome we were hoping for.

We're now 4 pts up on Washington. Washington has Boston, Montreal, T-Bay, Florida, and the Rangers. Anything can happen, but the most likely scenario is going 3-2 in those remaining games. That would put them at 90 pts, meaning we would need 3 pts out of our 5 remaining games. Of course, you would think (hope) that we would get more than that.......

Anyway, all hypotheticals. If Washington runs the table, collecting 10/10 points, then we would need 7/10 pts remaining to stay ahead.

Lots can happen, only way to guarantee a playoff spot at this point is to keep WINNING.

So our magic number is 7 to ensure we pass Washington (they hold the ROWs tiebreaker over us).

Games of interest today, none, really. Rangers play Winnipeg. The Jets cannot be eliminated tonight. The Rangers can't clinch top spot in the East, and with Pittsburgh's recent stumbles (or are the officially suddenly struggling?) it's less likely that they will be caught (remember how it was such a certainty a few days ago?)

Over in the West, Colorado could grab 8th with a win over Vancouver, but they would have played 2 more games than Phoenix. Calgary is playing LA and could push past them and tie for 8th. Dallas is 1 point back of SJ for the Pacific lead. The Stars are playing the Oilers while the Sharks play the Ducks. We could see a flip-flop of the #2 and #7 seeds. Detroit could get within 6 of St. Louis, but let's face it, that race is over.

Prior to our next game on Sat... the Caps visit the Bruins on Thursday and the Sabres host the Penguins on Friday. Things could be very tight by the time Saturday rolls around. We'll be the ones with a game in hand by then. Hopefully the Caps and Sabres lose their games this week.

Sens, Caps and Sabres are all playing on Saturday.
- Sens @ Flyers
- Sabres @ Leafs
- Habs @ Caps

Bottome line - we need to keep winning. That is the only way to keep ahead.

shabbs wrote:
- Sabres @ Leafs
- Habs @ Caps

Given how those two teams have been screwing us over lately, what is the likelihood that they actually win on Saturday? Especially since the Leafs haven't won at home in forever.

tim1_2 wrote:
Given how those two teams have been screwing us over lately, what is the likelihood that they actually win on Saturday? Especially since the Leafs haven't won at home in forever.

I think that has to change at some point, not to mention the Sabres can't keep winning forever, they'll have to lose at some point. I believe Buffalo has to play Philly, Boston and Pittsburgh as well as the 2 games against the Leafs.

Washington will have Backstrom back soon which will give them a boost(unless he comes back too early and is ineffective).

Would be nice for the Habs and Leafs to do us a solid this coming Saturday and win their games.

shabbs wrote:Would be nice for the Habs and Leafs to do us a solid this coming Saturday and win their games.

Considering how much trouble the Habs give us I think we can count on them.

The Leafs have to start playing and winning for self respect at some point no ? I figured they'd get a boost from getting a new coach but they seem just as bad if not worse .....

shabbs wrote:Prior to our next game on Sat... the Caps visit the Bruins on Thursday and the Sabres host the Penguins on Friday. Things could be very tight by the time Saturday rolls around. We'll be the ones with a game in hand by then. Hopefully the Caps and Sabres lose their games this week.

Sens, Caps and Sabres are all playing on Saturday.
- Sens @ Flyers
- Sabres @ Leafs
- Habs @ Caps

Bottome line - we need to keep winning. That is the only way to keep ahead.

So the Sabres will play the Pens on Friday, then travel to Toronto for the Saturday game. So what are the chances that the Leafs do the Sens a favor by beating what will surely be a tire, tired team?

Hoags wrote:

shabbs wrote:Would be nice for the Habs and Leafs to do us a solid this coming Saturday and win their games.

Considering how much trouble the Habs give us I think we can count on them.

The Leafs have to start playing and winning for self respect at some point no ? I figured they'd get a boost from getting a new coach but they seem just as bad if not worse .....

How many of them have two-way or no-way contracts for next year. Self-respect is fine, but playing for an NHL minimum salary has got to be a much better motivator.

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:Prior to our next game on Sat... the Caps visit the Bruins on Thursday and the Sabres host the Penguins on Friday. Things could be very tight by the time Saturday rolls around. We'll be the ones with a game in hand by then. Hopefully the Caps and Sabres lose their games this week.

Sens, Caps and Sabres are all playing on Saturday.
- Sens @ Flyers
- Sabres @ Leafs
- Habs @ Caps

Bottome line - we need to keep winning. That is the only way to keep ahead.

So the Sabres will play the Pens on Friday, then travel to Toronto for the Saturday game. So what are the chances that the Leafs do the Sens a favor by beating what will surely be a tire, tired team?

Don't count on the Leafs or Habs for anything. They are where they are for a reason. I fully expect the Sabres and Caps to win those games.

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:

shabbs wrote:Prior to our next game on Sat... the Caps visit the Bruins on Thursday and the Sabres host the Penguins on Friday. Things could be very tight by the time Saturday rolls around. We'll be the ones with a game in hand by then. Hopefully the Caps and Sabres lose their games this week.

Sens, Caps and Sabres are all playing on Saturday.
- Sens @ Flyers
- Sabres @ Leafs
- Habs @ Caps

Bottome line - we need to keep winning. That is the only way to keep ahead.

So the Sabres will play the Pens on Friday, then travel to Toronto for the Saturday game. So what are the chances that the Leafs do the Sens a favor by beating what will surely be a tire, tired team?

Don't count on the Leafs or Habs for anything. They are where they are for a reason. I fully expect the Sabres and Caps to win those games.

Not sure what the reason is, since they had little trouble beating us.