Though the Florida Panthers find themselves down 0-2 to the Flyers in 2011-12 - both results being one-goal affairs (the most recent ending in a shootout) on Sunrise ice - the Cats head to Philadelphia this evening seeking the best possible outcome: an opportunity to split the season, something neither club has accomplished since '08-09, when Philly won the first and last matches of the four-game series. Led off by Florida, each team has gone 3-1 vs the other in the subsequent two seasons.
But after a peek at the Eastern Conference standings we're not really concerned with such filler on this 8th day of March, are we...?
The Eastern Front
|
Rank |
Team |
GP |
W |
L |
OT |
PTS |
GF |
GA |
Home |
Away |
L10 |
Streak |
|
1 |
NY Rangers |
65 |
42 |
16 |
7 |
91 |
180 |
137 |
22-7-2 |
20-9-5 |
5-3-2 |
Lost 1 |
|
2 |
Boston |
65 |
39 |
23 |
3 |
81 |
214 |
154 |
19-12-2 |
20-11-1 |
4-5-1 |
Won 1 |
|
3 |
Florida |
65 |
31 |
22 |
12 |
74 |
163 |
184 |
16-9-8 |
15-13-4 |
4-5-1 |
Won 1 |
|
4 |
Pittsburgh |
66 |
40 |
21 |
5 |
85 |
212 |
170 |
22-8-2 |
18-13-3 |
8-2-0 |
Won 7 |
|
5 |
Philadelphia |
65 |
37 |
21 |
7 |
81 |
213 |
193 |
16-10-5 |
21-11-2 |
6-4-0 |
Won 3 |
|
6 |
New Jersey |
66 |
37 |
24 |
5 |
79 |
184 |
176 |
17-12-3 |
20-12-2 |
5-4-1 |
Won 1 |
|
7 |
Ottawa |
68 |
35 |
25 |
8 |
78 |
209 |
201 |
17-13-3 |
18-12-5 |
7-3-0 |
Won 1 |
|
8 |
Winnipeg |
67 |
32 |
27 |
8 |
72 |
176 |
187 |
21-10-4 |
11-17-4 |
6-2-2 |
Won 2 |
|
|
||||||||||||
|
9 |
Washington |
66 |
32 |
28 |
6 |
70 |
175 |
188 |
21-10-3 |
11-18-3 |
4-5-1 |
OT 1 |
|
10 |
Buffalo |
67 |
31 |
28 |
8 |
70 |
166 |
188 |
17-11-7 |
14-17-1 |
7-1-2 |
Won 1 |
|
11 |
Tampa Bay |
66 |
31 |
29 |
6 |
68 |
187 |
226 |
20-10-2 |
11-19-4 |
7-3-0 |
Lost 1 |
|
12 |
Toronto |
67 |
30 |
30 |
7 |
67 |
200 |
209 |
16-13-5 |
14-17-2 |
2-7-1 |
Lost 2 |
|
13 |
NY Islanders |
66 |
28 |
29 |
9 |
65 |
155 |
195 |
15-14-5 |
13-15-4 |
4-5-1 |
Won 2 |
|
14 |
Carolina |
67 |
25 |
27 |
15 |
65 |
177 |
203 |
17-13-6 |
8-14-9 |
4-2-4 |
OT 1 |
|
15 |
Montreal |
67 |
25 |
32 |
10 |
60 |
174 |
189 |
12-15-8 |
13-17-2 |
2-7-1 |
Lost 2 |
*
Why last night rocked:
- PIT over TOR, 3-2 (REG): for the most part a "so what?" game from our perspective; on the bright side FLA won't have to face a Pens squad coming off a busted six-game winning streak tomorrow
Why last night jonesed:
- BUF over CAR, 3-2 (OT): Sabres now 7-1-1 last nine
Panthers Playoff Update:
- FLA did not play; playoff odds up 0.3 to 83.6% per Sports Club Stats
Why tonight is a Big Deal in SoFla, beyond the obvious:
Focusing on clubs within 6 points of Panthers (74P); teams FLA needs to lose in bold…
- TB (68P) at WSH (70P), 7 p.m. (NHL-N): both clubs with 66 games-played; we'll take any result but one that ends with an OT or SO behind the score
- NYI at NJ (79P), 7: clubs have split season series after two; visiting team won each time
- BUF (70P) at BOS, 7: 2-2, home club has won every game
- NYR at OTT (78P), 7:30: Rags victorious in last six from Kanata
- WPG (72P) at VAN, 10: Nucks are 10-5-1 vs East in 2011-12, boast 19-8-4 home record; Peggers are 11-17-4 on road
Next up for the Cats:
- Tonight from FlyerTown; the LBC Game Thread offers to show Otis a very long arm at 6:30. Until then, roll on over to Broad Street Hockey for the Philly side of the equation.
Did you know:
- After 37 combined regular season appearances at The Spectrum and Wells Fargo Center, Florida is 4 goals-for short of 100 all-time in Philadelphia.
Wednesday’s Organizational News:
- A few days late on this, but MySA's Tony Uminski had a terrific real-world look at the success San Antonio has achieved, earned, and strives to continue as the Rampage march forward