The Skinny on the Metro Playoff Race

The Isles lost their share of the Met Division lead (and two players) in their 5-0 loss to Boston.  Washington beat New Jersey, Carolina rallied for a shootout win over Pittsburgh (leaving both tied with the Isles with 38 ROW), Columbus lost to Calgary, and Montreal closed within a point of a playoff spot by beating Philadelphia.

So the standings through Tuesday's play looks like this:

Metro Playoff Watch

1. Caps 93 points/73 games/39 ROW (Wednesday vs. Tampa Bay, Friday vs. Minnesota)

2. Isles 91 points/73 games/38 ROW (Thursday at Montreal, Saturday at Philadelphia)

3. Penguins 89 points/74 games/38 ROW (Thursday at Nashville, Saturday at Dallas)

4. Hurricanes 87 points/72 games/38 ROW (Thursday vs Tampa Bay, Saturday vs. Minnesota)

5. Blue Jackets 84 points/73 games/39 ROW (Thursday at Edmonton, Sunday at Vancouver)

6. Flyers 78 points/73 games/33 ROW (Thursday at Chicago, Saturday vs. Isles)

Also in Wild Card Race

Canadiens 83 points/73 games/36 ROW (Thursday vs. Isles, Saturday vs. Buffalo)

The Blue Jackets currently hold the second Wild Card, so five Metropolitan Division teams are currently in playoff spots.

Magic Numbers:

The Isles' Magic Number to clinch a playoff spot is 11.  It could go as low as 7 (with a win vs. Montreal) on Thursday.

The Isles' Magic Number to clinch the Metropolitan Division is 21.  It could go as low as 17 by Thursday (with a Washington regulation loss to Tampa Bay on Wednesday and an Islander regulation/overtime win vs. Montreal).

Goal Differential

With the Isles losing by five goals and the Caps winning by three goals tonight, the Isles now have a +30 goal differential to Washington’s +28. It is this tie-breaker that had the Isles in first place in the Metro Division entering play on Tuesday.