Updated Strength of Schedule

The Isles will  continue to carry the 4th-easiest  Eastern Conference schedule into tonight's game with Boston.

Four Easiest in East
1.  Rangers  .470    after playing NYI, none of their final 7 opponents are in a playoff spot
2.  Winnipeg .513    ...but Isles/Wsh/Montreal are three of their final 4
3.  Boston   .520      B's can clinch playoff spot with pt vs Isles or Florida victory over Winnipeg
4.  ISLES .524        Final 5-gm road trip includes 4 teams not currently in a spot

Four Toughest:

1. Buffalo .590        Six points behind Isles...and only 11 ROW to Isles 17.

2. Panthers .578      Can they lose enough to hold off Carolina for last in the East?

2.. Devils .578         7 of final 9 vs teams in current top 8, including 2 trips to MSG

4. Lightning .574      Upcoming trip has stops in Washington and Winnipeg

Isles and Bruins with 6:30 pre-game on MSG+ tonight. The Isles need a point to stay in 7th place, will pass Ottawa for 6th if they get more points than Sens.  Isles are 7-1-1 in their last 9 and have 24 points in 18 road games, which is their highest total thru 18 road games in the Post-Cup era.

 Other games in East tonight:

• Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay - the Penguins clinched the Atlantic Tuesday; the Lightning are on life-support
• Montreal at Buffalo - the Habs fell out of first place Wednesday; the Sabres are 6 points out of a playoff spot
• Florida at Winnipeg -the Jets can tie the Rangers in points (and the Isles, Caps and Sens if they don't get points too)
• Ottawa at Philadelphia- Isles fans chanted "Last Place Flyers" on Tuesday; could be chanting "Let's Go Flyers" on Thursday
• Carolina at Washington- Caps continue to win; Kirk Muller is 1-12-1 in his last 14 games.