Washingtons games in hand should be an advantage, but sometime they will have to start jamming in games with less rest.

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The last game of the season being Washington/Philly may very well determine who makes it.  

I think Philly has the easiest schedule of the three, but Torts is running out of ways to scare, I mean... motivate the team.  

I am not sure why the Islanders are not even a part of the conversation. I think they have as good of a chance as any of the other 3 teams. Their next 2 games are against Columbus and Chicago.

I'm curious how many wings have been playing with the flu over the last 10 days or so. Might explain the lack of effort in some of those games last week and why Lalonde didn't get as upset with the team as I typically would have expected.

For a while they looked like a men's league team where everyone shows up hung over and you end up with 10 guys who want to play D and hang back all game.

Nice to see them winning puck battles and going to the net last night.

Hi there - The Isles should be part of the convo - but - it is trending towards my worst nightmare  - 9th place in the conference.   Ilya Sorokin has lost his last 6 games - Varlamov has played the last three games but the issue has changed.   Before - it was the 32nd ranked PK in the league. As of today - it still is - but the team has taken a lot less penalties.    They are 22nd in NHL in Goals For and 24th in Goals let in.  Not a recipe for success.  The other problem all season was a penchant for third period collapses.   Philly scored to tie with less than 10 seconds.  Phila pulled the goalie with 3 mins left and NYI did not score an empty net goal and failed to clear the puck at least 3 times.   

Now - Phila disappeared in Period two yesterday and their Power play is a paltry 12% !!!   This is why I think Detroit has a chance  they are better with PK and PP than Phila, WAS and NYI.   

Phila put that 6'7 Russian kid in after the starter let in a softie.   He played well - had no chance on the OT goal by Nelson.

Now why be a small bit bullish on the Isles?    They play three tough games (NSH at home - Rag$ home and away) and have CHI/CBJ/MON/NJD and PIT left.    I am actually bullish on the Rag$ games - the Isles *usually* play them very tough.  The others?  Who knows.   This team does not deserve to be in the playoffs.   But if they did go on a heater.....they have a lot of veteran players.  Net/Net - I see WAS overtaking PHI and the Wings getting that last seed.   PHI is a tough out - but the Power Play is where I see red flags.

While there schedule is a mix of bag of teams, Washingtons 9 games in 15 days (including 2 back-to-backs) is a tough way to end the season. It will be interesting to see how they fair in such a compressed schedule.

Keep playing out the rest of the season.

Regardless of how things turn out, I am very interested what Yzerman will do to change this roster. More FA signings are not the answer. Make a trade. Remove some players and start having some draft picks on the roster. 

If Edvinsson is not up full-time next year, it will be a step in the wrong direction. See if Danielson or Kasper battle for a spot. Try and re-sign Kane. Move onward from Petry, Holl, and do not re-sign Ghost. 

Not popular with some, but I would try and see if Zegras is available. It will cost players and picks (of course, not Edvinsson, Kasper and Danielson)... try something to get better.

Anyone know if Maxim Tsyplakov can come over? I think his team is out of the playoffs. Wonder if the Red Wings can sign him?

If we are going to buyout a player, I would vote for Copp, 3 more years at $5 mil is brutal for what we are getting. Does the puck ever end up with his teammate after Copp touches the puck?

I was happy with the Copp signing, and I defended him up to now. But he just looks lost out there, and it's not getting any better. He might still have some cache in the league, enough somebody might take him if we retain salary. But if not, I say we use a buy-out slot on him. Can't blame Stevie for this one. Might have over-paid for what he thought he was getting, but he didn't get even anywhere near that.

Also, Sabres up 2-1 end of 1.

Buffalo 3, Washington 2 after two periods.

Sabres just scored three unanswered in the space of about 4 minutes to go up 6-2 on the Caps. 14 min to go.

Crazy stat:

• Detroit first-round draft pick Sebastian Cossa has helped the Grand Rapids Griffins earn at least one point in 17 consecutive games. He hasnt lost a game in regulation in 80 days.

I realize that the stat is a little misleading because of their goalie rotation but thats still crazy. Thats almost 3 months without losing a game in regulation.

Talk about puck luck. Crazy bounce off the boards give the Isles the lead.

NYI beat Chicago 2-1, they have 81 points with 7 games left.

Capitals have 82 points with 8 games left.

Wings have 82 points with 7 games left.

Isles won a close game.  Chicago played a pretty good game, Mrazek played well.   Isles did not get going till the 3rd period a power play goal by Horvat and a greasy goal by Holmstrom got it done.  Sorokin played well - only 19 shots against - but some were tough saves.   Nothing came easy and sometimes you have to win these back to back games (Chicago played SAT) when your legs are not there.   Not generating a ton of offense - but staying out of the box a bit more and improved defense to an extent.  Not a team - however - that will scare a Cup Contender.

and suddenly Pittsburgh has entered the conversation. Buffalo with head to head games against a lot of the competitors is not even out of the mix. Devils should be all but officially out now at least.