Keeping an eye on the NHL’s wild-card playoff races
Today on Daily Faceoff Live, Matt Larkin and Steven Ellis discuss the Wild Card playoff races and why the games this weekend are very important for certain teams.
Matt Larkin: Steven, it was a busy night in the NHL last night but what really stood out to me was the jockeying of the bubble teams; you have Washington win, Ottawa win, Florida loses in the East, and you have Nashville beating Seattle as well. So, in the East now you have five points separating four teams for the last Wild Card spot. In the West you have six points separating three teams for the last Wild Card spot. I’m curiously looking into this weekend Steven is there a certain game or games you think are particularly crucial?
Steven Ellis: Well, Pittsburgh versus Washington tonight will be one to watch for sure. I think the games I’m looking at are the next two for the Islanders they’re one of the few teams with two games. They play Columbus, a bartered team that’s last in the standings so they have to get those points there but then they play Buffalo a team that’s still trying to show that they can be a force to be reckoned with in the next couple of years so they won’t back down despite it being a rough patch. Those are four points they need to get, they’ve put themselves in that Wild Card spot and hold the number one spot over Pittsburgh so it’s just a two-point gap there, Florida is at 79 and Washington at 76. It’s definitely not a done deal by any means, so the islanders will have to come out of this with as many points as possible because they probably won’t be able to make it into the top three in the Metropolitan Division so they’re going to have to hold a Wild Card spot and these next two games, which are very winnable games, you just got to get those points in your back pocket.
Matt Larkin: For sure. I’m looking at that Washington and Pittsburgh game. I’m wondering, right now Washington sits four points back of Pittsburgh, I believe Pittsburgh has another game in hand. Is this the last time we are going to see a true rivalry type of game between Washington and Pittsburgh where it matters for Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin? For all, we know the ways these teams have been sagging since their cup wins you could have one team at this time next year completely out of the race. So I think we do need to savour that game, it does matter and there’s a Wild Card spot at stake.
Matt Larkin: In the West, I look at that rematch between Nashville and Seattle, which was a good game last night, it went to a shoutout and you had Juuse Saros put on a great performance. If Nashville can beat Seattle again, then suddenly you have the Predators hanging around in that race which is very strange since they sold off many pieces leading up to the deadline. But, they’ve shown they’re sticking around and hanging tough. I think we also need to watch the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights. That game on the weekend has some big implications for the Pacific Division. The Oilers I believe are six points back, if they lose that game, maybe the division title is out of reach, but if they beat Vegas it could get interesting. With Logan Thompson out after tweaking something last night, it could be Jonathan Quick versus the Oilers.
You can watch the full episode here…