lordstanley

Tie game!

Devils lose. 76 points with 6 games to go, maximum of 88 possible. They're done. They don't even need to be tracked anymore.

Yes and yes.

Breather tonight. No super meaningful games on tap. I guess we should still hope for NJ to lose to the Rangers, but with the Devils 6 pts back of the Wings and having only 7 games left to play, they're not much of a factor. The Devils would have to win out just to hit 90 points, and I don't think that will cut it.

One of my favourite ever broadcast moments was at the 2:29:05 mark here Ernie: "It's 11 o'clock in Detroit, and do you know where the Tigers are? They're 3 outs away from an American League pennant'

Getting a bit bunched up. Washington loses, NYI wins, Pittsburgh wins, NJ loses. 5 teams for 2 spots - Washington, Philly, Detroit, NYI, Pittsburgh.

Yeah, they now lead NJ 5-3 and if the beat Washington on Thursday they’d be within 1 pt of the Wings. NJ winning tonight would have been better, because they’re a point behind Pittsburgh and play the tough Rangers next.

Decent news so far ... Washington trails Buffalo 3-2 starting the 3rd Chicago leads NYI 1-0 after 2 NJ leads Pitt 3-1 in the 2nd (mostly indifferent who wins that, just prefer it not to go into OT - both teams are on last gasp though)

Here are the maximum points each bubble team can achieve if they were to win out: Washington - 82 pts + 9 games = 100 pts Detroit - 82 pts + 7 games = 96 pts Philly - 83 pts + 6 games = 95 pts NYI - 79 pts + 8 games = 95 pts Pitt - 77 pts + 8 games = 93 pts NJ - 76 pts + 8 games = 92 pts Buff - 75 pts + 7 games = 89 pts

Before the Wings play again on Friday, the Capitals will have used up their 2 games in hand: - Tuesday at Buffalo - Thursday vs Pittsburgh The Caps will be favored in both, but if they lose at least one of those then the Wings could tie Washington with a regulation win over them when they play. Like the Wings, the Flyers are off until Friday. The Islanders, currently 3 pts behind but with 1 game in hand on the Wings and 3 games in hand on the Flyers, could be ahead of both by Friday because NYI plays two weak opponents: - Tuesday vs Chicago - Thursday at Columbus The Islanders are the one team with whom the Wings are in good shape with respect to the tiebreaker, as the Wings currently lead NYI in regulation wins 26-23.

1 win down (last night over Tampa), 7 games to go. How many wins/points will it take? I think 4-2-1 could be enough.

I think Lalonde’s job should be in jeopardy if the Wings miss the playoffs. 3-10-2 is amazing, especially with many of those games not even being competitive. He will definitely keep his job though into next season. Yzerman likes him, Yzerman chose him, and when all is said and done the Wings likely will show around 10 points improvement over last season’s 80 pts. Firing him would be admitting that the expectation for this season was playoffs. I think that should have been the expectation, but Yzerman denies it.

Wings control their destiny. One point behind Philly with a game in hand. Three points up on NYI, with the Wings having played one more game. So Wings win their final 7 (ha) and they’re in.

Given strength of opponents, I was hoping for a modest 5 out of 10 points on this road trip. 4 points isn’t a killer, considering how it started and given Philly’s slump

Wings lead! Tigers lead!

No way, Philly ties it with 9 seconds to go.

Raymond with nifty moves. Rasmussen couldn’t convert.

Bolts leave no doubt. How can you give up repeat 2 on 1 during a “powerplay”

I think not. Wasn’t immediately clear what call on ice was but they informed broadcast crew during the review.

I knew that Glendening is with the Lightning, didn’t realize Jeff Blashill is.

Flyers have tied it up against the Islanders, approaching midway through the 2nd.

Those goals should never count. They too often do though.

And on demand …Kane!

0-0 after 1 at Tampa. Af least the Wings seem to be doing a better job at limiting goals against the last half dozen games or so, for the most part. Goes without saying they need to score though.

I don't get ESPNU and the only coverage in Canada was on TSN+, some add-on I don't get. I was watching ESPNU via YouTube no problem until 5 minutes into the 3rd when they pulled the plug. I did see some highlights from the other regional finals. Quinnipiac was eliminated on an OT howler.