| Place/Team | Games Played | WINS | LOSSES | OTL | Points | ROW | GF | GA | DIFF | HOME | AWAY | S/O | L10 | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Boston Bruins | 78 | 46 | 28 | 4 | 96 | 38 | 257 | 192 | +65 | 23-13-3 | 23-15-1 | 8-3 | 6-3-1 | WON 1 |
| 2. Ottawa Senators | 78 | 40 | 28 | 10 | 90 | 34 | 240 | 230 | +10 | 20-15-4 | 20-13-6 | 6-4 | 5-3-2 | WON 3 |
| 3. Buffalo Sabres | 79 | 38 | 31 | 10 | 86 | 31 | 208 | 219 | -11 | 20-12-8 | 18-19-2 | 7-6 | 6-2-2 | LOST 2 |
| 4. Toronto Maple Leafs | 79 | 34 | 36 | 9 | 77 | 30 | 222 | 252 | -30 | 17-16-7 | 17-20-2 | 4-5 | 4-5-1 | WON 1 |
| 5. Montreal Canadiens | 79 | 29 | 35 | 15 | 73 | 24 | 202 | 221 | -19 | 14-15-10 | 15-20-5 | 5-11 | 2-3-5 | OT 1 |
Standings Update
There has not been any changes in the divisional standings since last week. Boston has increased there lead a bit, now at 6, ahead of Ottawa. Montreal and Toronto both are now mathematically out of playoff contention and are much closer to a lottery pick than the playoffs. Buffalo is still in the heat of the playoff race and missed an opportunity to stay tied with Washington when they lost to Toronto tonight.
There has not been any changes in the divisional standings since last week. Boston has increased there lead a bit, now at 6, ahead of Ottawa. Montreal and Toronto both are now mathematically out of playoff contention and are much closer to a lottery pick than the playoffs. Buffalo is still in the heat of the playoff race and missed an opportunity to stay tied with Washington when they lost to Toronto tonight.
Leafs Take Another Licking
Just over a week after they were destroyed by the Bruins 8-0, the Leafs suffered another embarrassing loss, this time to the Philadelphia Flyers. Leafs defenseman Luke Schenn was a minus-3, while his brother Brayden of the Flyers scored the first two goals of the game, and the second was eventually the game winner. Family bragging rights, Brayden.
Pulling The Plug On Pierre
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| "Can you repeat the question, I couldn't hear you over the happy screams of Habs fans" |
Matinee Matchups
There were two afternoon games today, Saturday, March 31st and the Northeast had two participants. The Boston Bruins took on the New York Islanders, winning 6-3 and the Ottawa Senators beat the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in a shootout, after blowing a 3-0 lead.
Erik "Point-Per-Game" Karlsson
With his one assist Saturday against the Flyers, Erik Karlsson recorded his 77th point of the season, while playing in 77 of Ottawa's 78 games. They are just 9 players that have played more than 40 games, who are averaging a point-per-game or better this season, and Karlsson is the only defenseman, and he is also the youngest of the group, older than Steven Stamkos by just 3 months.
Road Warrior
Jason Spezza has put the team on his back when they travel. He leads the entire league in road point, one ahead of Evgeni Malkin, with 42. Erik Karlsson is 5th in the same category with 38 points away from home. This has also given the Sens one of the best road records in the league at 20-13-6.
Senior Signings
The Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs both signed a college senior to entry-level deals. Buffalo signed Maine's Brian Flynn while Toronto signed Spenser Abbott. Want to learn more about these players, and other college signings, head over here.
Golfing Early
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| Carlyle getting his troops ready. |
Lotto Pick Race
Columbus has locked up the last overall position and will have the greatest chance at choosing Nail Yakupov in June, but Montreal and Toronto both have a chance. Montreal is 3rd last in the league, and Toronto is 5th last, giving them both a stab at the first overall pick.
Missed Opportunity
Buffalo played the weaker Maple Leafs on Saturday looking to keep pace with Washington, who beat Montreal to move 2 points ahead of Buffalo. The Sabres were unable to get the win, losing 4-3 to Toronto and are now 2 points behind Washington for 8th.
Bruises In The Capital
Ottawa has a lot of skill on their team with Alfredsson, Karlsson, Spezza, Michalek etc. they also have some physical players. Zenon Konopka and Chris Neil are both in the top 5 in penalty minutes this season, Konopka with 193 in 3rd place and Neil with 169 in 4th place. Their physicality adds another element to the strong Senators, but it does take the skills players off the ice with all their penalty minutes.
Surviving Being Outshot
The Boston Bruins are the best team in the league when it comes to being outshot in a game. Boston has won 70% of the games in which they did not get more shots than their opponents.
Quick and Plentiful
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| Phanuef has been on the ice many times a game for the Leafs. |
Rask's Return
Boston's Tuuka Rask is near to returning to the lineup. With the playoffs quickly approaching, Rask is getting closer to returning. Though Tim Thomas will likely get all playoff starts, having Rask return as the backup will provide some security for the Bruins. He has been out since March 6th and has been rehabbing his knee injury since.
Crease Crashing
The Maple Leafs have had their troubles in net, but it hadn't been because of injury until this week. James Reimer re-aggravated his concussion, and so Jussi Ryannas was an emergency call-up. During the warm-up of the following game, Jonas Gustavsson went down when a puck hit him in the knee when he was not expecting it. Ryannas got the start against the Flyers, and it didn't exactly go well for him. Ben Scrivens was then re-called from the Marlies today to play for the Leafs as well.
April Fools!
The NHL has always had some interesting pranks happen on April Fool's day, and it will be interesting to see what they come up with this year.
Players To Watch:
- Jason Spezza. Spezza is on another hot streak. Earlier this season he had an 11 game point streak, and he is currently on a 4 game point streak recording 3 goals and 7 points. With the Senators in the heat of the playoff race, Spezza will have to continue working hard to keep them in the playoff picture.
- David Krejci. Krejci has 5 points in his last 3 games, 3 of those goals, for the Bruins as they look to solidify their spot atop the Northeast. It only took him 4 shots to get those 3 goals, so he has been picking his spots on the net and firing them hard.
- Rene Bourque. The main piece of the Mike Cammalleri trade, Bourque has not played well this season, especially of late. He was held pointless in 9 straight games, and 14 of his previous 15 games before scoring Montreal's lone goal Friday against the Rangers. Look for him to try and impress in the final 4 games, trying to validate the trade.
- Joey Crabb. He recorded 4 points in his previous 4 games prior to Saturday's game where he opened the scoring for the Leafs on a shorthanded breakaway. He also recorded his first multi-point game of the year last Saturday against the Rangers.
- Tyler Ennis. During Buffalo's amazing climb up the standings, Ennis has been a key part. He recorded 16 points in 15 games in March before tonight's game and 6 points in his previous 4 games.
Divisional Games:
Toronto @ Buffalo - Tuesday, April 3rd
Boston @ Ottawa - Thursday, April 5th
Buffalo @ Boston - Saturday, April 7th
Toronto @ Montreal - Saturday, April 7th
The season is nearly over and Ottawa and Buffalo will be in the race for 7th and 8th in their final games. It's getting exciting! Who do you think will make the playoffs out of the Northeast?
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