Last night, while the Tampa Bay Lightning were engaged in another game with little meaning, the teams fighting for the last spot in the Eastern Conference went at it. First off, the New York Islanders beat the New Jersey Devils to wrap up the third seed in the Metro. The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins (see, they’re not so tough) to hold onto the second wild card spot. The Penguins doubled up the Predators and continued their miracle push for the playoffs, which was looking a lot better before Detroit scored twice in the third period and again in overtime to beat Montreal.
Even the Lightning’s opponent is still undecided. With the loss, Boston threw away their chance to finish atop the Eastern Conference. With 109 points they still sit atop the Atlantic Division, but Florida is just one point behind them. The Bruins host Ottawa tonight in their final game of the season while the Panthers are home for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews quest for 70 goals (he’s at 69, nice). The Lightning will get whichever team finished atop of the Atlantic Division while the Leafs get the loser.
In the Metro, the New York Rangers won their final game of the season, defeating the Ottawa Senators, and wrapped up the President’s Trophy with 114 points. They get to face whoever emerges from the second wild card battle while the Carolina Hurricanes will host the Islanders in the first round.
Tonight the Flyers, who somehow still haven’t been eliminated, host the Capitals. If my math (and understanding of the tie-breakers) is correct, a Washington win locks them into the final spot. They would have 91 points and the edge in regulation wins over Detroit, who will be in Montreal for their final game. Pittsburgh has to play the waiting game and hope that the Red Wings and Capitals both lose. If that happens, then they need to beat the Islanders on Wednesday to leap frog over those two teams.
So, there’s a lot to still play for in the East. As for the Bolts, well, there is Nikita Kucherov’s quest for 100 assists. That’s nice.
Other Hockey News
Lightning lose to Sabres, 4-2 [Raw Charge]
In a tradition as old as….well I think I did it one other time, the next-to-last game of the season gets a hockey haiku for a recap.
Lightning sign Dylan Duke to ELC [Raw Charge]
His Michigan Wolverine days are behind him as he will head to the Syracuse Crunch on an ATO. Geo returns to give a brief look at what the Crunch are getting for the rest of the season and playoffs.
Gavin Brindley signs with Columbus [Michigan Daily]
Duke’s teammate at Michigan is also heading to the NHL as Gavin Brindley signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. There is a chance he will play for the Blue Jackets in their final game of the season. Their teammate Rutger McGroarty bucked the trend by announcing he will return to the Wolverines for his junior season.
Bill Zito signs extension in Florida [AP News]
The hockey leadership team in South Florida is not a big team. On Monday owner Vincent Viola announced that general manager Bill Zito signed a multi-year extension and also added the title of President, Hockey Operations to his business card. That pretty much means that when Zito is fired in a couple of years, the person that does it can only be Vincent Viola.
How the relocation to Utah came together for the Arizona Coyotes, and what remains unresolved [The Athletic]
In short, it was the inability for the Coyotes current ownership to convince the NHL that they would have a permanent arena that cost them the team. Even Gary Bettman has his limits, and with no clear path to getting the ‘Yotes out of Mullett Arena anytime soon, the league brokered the deal to bring the team to the Wasatch foothills. There are still some final details to work out, but the league is trying to get it done before the playoffs start this weekend.
