The Skinny on the Playoff Race

Updating for Pittsburgh's 5-4 win this afternoon.

Playoff Chase

Metro Division

3rd  Isles           83 points (25 RW) in 76 games  (SAT vs. Nashville, TUE vs. Rangers)

4th  Pittsburgh     83 points (31 RW) in 77 games  (MON at Toronto)

5th  Philadelphia  83 points (28 RW) in 77 games  (SAT at Columbus, TUE at Montreal)

6th  Washington   82 points (28 RW) in 76 games  (SUN vs. Ottawa, TUE at Detroit)

Wild Card

1st WC Tampa Bay     93 points (35 RW) in 77 games  (TUE vs. Columbus)

2nd WC Pittsburgh     83 points (31 RW) in 77 games  (MON at Toronto)

3rd         Philadelphia 83 points (28 RW) in 77 games  (SAT at Columbus, TUE at Montreal)

4th         Washington  82 points (28 RW) in 76 games  (SUN vs. Ottawa, TUE at Detroit)

5th         Detroit         82 points (26 RW) in 76 games  (SUN vs. Buffalo, TUE vs. Washington)

6th         Buffalo        79 points (31 RW) in 77 games  (SUN at Detroit, TUE at Dallas)

7th          New Jersey  76 points (31 RW) in 76 games  (SAT at Ottawa, SUN vs. Nashville, TUE vs. Toronto)

Maximum Points & Regulation Wins (two teams qualify)

• Isles 95/31

• Washington 94/34

• Detroit 94/32

• Pittsburgh 93/36

• Philadelphia 93/33

• Buffalo 89/36

• New Jersey 88/37

Tonight's Games

Nashville at ISLES

Philadelphia at Columbus

New Jersey at Ottawa

At the end of play tonight.....

• Isles, who started the day 3rd in the Metro, will be 3rd in Metro again  IF: Isles win OR Isles lose in OT/SO and Flyers lose in any fashion
• Isles will be 2nd Wild Card IF: Isles lose in OT/SO and Flyers win OR  Isles and Flyers both lose in regulation
• Isles will fall out of playoff berth IF:   Isles lose in regulation and Flyers do not lose in regulation

(Isles/Flyers/Pittsburgh can all be 3rd in Metro, 2nd in WC, or 3rd in WC at end of play today)

Something else to think about...

The Isles are 13th in the Eastern Conference in RWs, but could tie Detroit with Regulation Win tonight.  Pittsburgh would clinch tie-breaker over Isles tonight if Isles do not win in regulation.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick