from Scott Burnside of ESPN,

Here's a look at which key players and coaches on those teams deserves an extra slice of pie -- and which look like postseason turkeys.

Making it look as easy as pie

Alain Vigneault, head coach, New York Rangers

Kudos to Vigneault, who must have wondered whether his ship had sailed when the Rangers were bounced in the first round of the playoffs in five games last April by the eventual champs from Pittsburgh. Now New York, which looked at the season's outset to be a playoff bubble team, leads the Metropolitan Division and boasts the league's best goal differential by a wide margin. With Vigneault getting the most out of a speedy, highly skilled group that leads the NHL in goals per game, we can now talk in terms of which of the three elite Metro teams -- the Rangers, the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Washington Capitals -- will emerge as a division winner and send the other two into a first-round playoff clash.

Time to talk turkeys

Garth Snow, GM, New York Islanders

If you immediately think "tire fire" when you hear "Islanders," then you're not alone. The Isles have gone almost overnight from a team on the rise to one in disarray. The Islanders occupy last place in the Metropolitan Division in spite of a home-friendly schedule that saw them play 12 of their first 17 in Brooklyn. They finally earned their first road win of the season in a shootout over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.

Big offseason additions Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera have combined for three goals, and at this point the Isles look likely to miss the postseason just one year after winning their first playoff series since 1993. The franchise's new ownership can't be too thrilled with that prospect -- nor can captain John Tavares, who has one more year left on his deal. Speculation is already rampant that Tavares will take the first train out of Brooklyn when the time comes. At some point, either Snow will be proven right and the Isles will shake out of this, or someone will have to pay the price. I'm going with Option B.

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