And down the stretch they come…
With the playoffs clinched for both clubs during head-to-head battle last night between the Lightning and Les Habitants de Montreal, the next six games for Tampa Bay and next five for the Canadiens will still be relevant as it they will assure playoff seeding and home ice advantage in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
Assuming Tampa and Montreal are going to square off in that round, which seems highly probable as it stands, here is the remaining schedule for both clubs:
|
Tampa Bay |
Montreal |
|
April 3: vs. Calgary |
April 4 at Ottawa |
|
April 5 vs. Dallas |
April 5 vs. Detroit |
|
April 8 vs. Toronto |
April 9 at Chicago |
|
April 10 vs. Columbus |
April 10 vs. NY Islanders |
|
April 11 vs. Philadelphia |
April 12 NY Rangers |
|
April 13 at Washington |
While the Bolts have one more game than the Habs, it’s Montreal that’s got to play four of their remaining five in back-to-back affairs. Detroit and Ottawa are still in playoff contention (though time is running extremely short for Ottawa.) Chicago is locked in, the Rangers are trying to clinch and lock down their playoff seeding, and the Islanders are out.
For Tampa Bay, Dallas is leading the west wild card race, Toronto is vying for a wild card and Columbus stands in their way at the moment. Philly is jockeying for playoff seeding position, though they trail the Rangers by 3 points in the Atlantic Division at current, and Washington may or may not be out of wild card contention by the season finale affaire at Verizon Center.
Looking at the schedule, which team do you think ends up second in the Atlantic Division (securing home ice for round one of the playoffs) when the season concludes April 13th?
