from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

It seems a virtual certainty that the top eight teams in the Eastern Conference right now will be the eight teams that will own playoff spots in mid-April. That means it's all about positioning in both divisions at this point, and given that we can color the Metropolitan Division grey.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins in a funk the door was open for the New York Islanders to assert themselves as kings of the Metro. Instead, without Kyle Okposo (who has a detached retina and is out indefinitely), the Islanders have now lost three in a row thanks to a 4-2 home loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. The Islanders' sideways turn has created a significant logjam from first through fourth with the Isles just one point up on the Penguins.

The New York Rangers are in the hunt for top spot in the division, too, sitting just three points back of the Islanders with two games in hand. Meanwhile, the Washington Capitals are tied in points with the Rangers. Maybe it was the retro Captain Highliner jerseys the Islanders were sporting Tuesday, but all of a sudden they don't seem as invincible as they appeared to be a month ago.

read on for more hockey topics including Custnce on the Wild and LeBrun on the Kings...