Clinching the Southeast Division...?

by John Fontana on Mar 4, 2004 4:56 PM EST in Playoffs

I've been trying to figure out how long it will take for the Lightning to clinch the Southeast division and therefore a playoff spot.... We might clinch a playoff spot sooner but my concern right now is trying to figure out when and where the Bolts will shut the door on the Southeast.

TB's closest competitor in the South is the Florida Panthers who not only are 21 points back, but have played 2 more games than the Lightning (68 to 66 respectively). They have a possible 28 more points they can achieve between now and the end of the season. Meanwhile the Lightning have a possible 32 points they can pull home over that span... 4 point differential..

So, with my porous math skills and my abysmal statistical skills, does that mean the magic number is 2 (a combination of Lightning wins and Panther loses)? Someone with more knowledge than me, please chime in on this....

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This is the way I have it figured: FLA has 65 pts with 14 games left. That means they can get a maximum of 93 points. The Lightning have 86 points right now. If they get 8 more points, they will clinch the division and at least 3rd place in the East.

SO, the magic number is 8.

by Dan on Mar 4, 2004 4:56 PM EST reply actions

The Magic Number isn’t derived from points though — it should be record keeping.

It’s 4 — a combination of wins by the Lightning and loses by the Panthers…

Well, technically it’s 3.5 but we’ll say the full 4.

by John F on Mar 4, 2004 4:56 PM EST reply actions

It’s 8 points. There’s a handy site for this type of calculation. I explain it and link to it on my blog here.

by Tom Benjamin on Mar 4, 2004 4:56 PM EST reply actions

Oops link didn’t work.

http://www.canuckscorner.com/weblog/nhllog/archives/000495.html

by Tom Benjamin on Mar 4, 2004 4:56 PM EST reply actions

thanks Tom, I had turned HTML comments off (to ward off spammers)… Thena gain, I ahve MT-Blacklist installed so I could ward off spammers THAT way and not leave commentors suffering

by John F on Mar 4, 2004 4:56 PM EST reply actions