NHL Eastern Conference Playoff Preview

Greetings! Apologies for my rather extended absence from Bottle Service, but I'm back and pumped for March Madness, NHL Playoffs, and the NFL Labor Negoti....oh...right...well then, seeing as March Madness is in full swing, let's take a look at the NHL Playoffs, which are set to start in less than a month. Today we'll look at the Eastern Conference. The standings as of today are as follows:

EASTERN		GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	ROW	SOW	SOL	HOME	ROAD	GF	GA	DIFF	L10	STRK
1	Philadelphia	71	44	19	8	96	41	3	4	21-10-4	23-9-4	228	190	+38	4-4-2	Won 1
2	Washington	73	42	21	10	94	39	3	5	22-8-7	20-13-3	198	176	+22	9-1-0	Won 1
3	Boston	71	39	22	10	88	37	2	5	16-12-5	23-10-5	213	175	+38	4-3-3	Lost 2
4	Pittsburgh	72	41	23	8	90	36	5	3	22-13-2	19-10-6	208	177	+31	5-3-2	Lost 1
5	Tampa Bay	72	39	22	11	89	33	6	6	22-9-5	17-13-6	214	217	-3	2-4-4	Lost 2
6	Montreal	73	40	26	7	87	37	3	3	22-9-6	18-17-1	200	185	+15	7-3-0	Won 1
7	NY Rangers	73	39	30	4	82	31	8	2	17-16-3	22-14-1	215	179	+36	6-4-0	Won 4
8	Buffalo	72	35	28	9	79	30	5	1	16-16-4	19-12-5	214	208	+6	5-3-2	Lost 1
	Carolina	72	33	29	10	76	29	4	5	19-12-4	14-17-6	201	214	-13	4-5-1	Won 1
	Toronto	73	32	31	10	74	28	4	5	17-14-7	15-17-3	192	225	-33	5-4-1	Won 1
	New Jersey	72	34	34	4	72	31	3	1	18-15-3	16-19-1	154	182	-28	7-3-0	Won 1
	Atlanta	72	30	30	12	72	26	4	7	16-14-7	14-16-5	202	238	-36	5-4-1	Lost 1
	Florida	72	29	33	10	68	25	4	5	15-15-8	14-18-2	182	198	-16	3-4-3	Lost 1
	NY Islanders	73	28	33	12	68	24	4	5	16-15-5	12-18-7	203	233	-30	5-1-4	Won 1
	Ottawa	72	27	36	9	63	26	1	4	13-19-5	14-17-4	164	223	-59	6-4-0	Won 2

Everyone is safe except for the Rangers and the Sabres, who still have work to do to solidify their spots in the playoffs. If you ask me, you're looking at the current playoff lineup as-is now, but Carolina, Toronto, and yes, even New Jersey still could make that final push. The strongest team throughout the season has been Philadelphia, and despite their recent struggles, they have to be considered the favorite in the East. The hottest team is the 2nd-place Washington Capitals, who seem to be peaking at the right time, but until this team proves they can put together a solid playoff performance, they are suspect. Boston is currently in 3rd place, and 1st in the Northeast Division, but this might not be true for long, as Montreal is almost as hot as the Capitals, and are making the Bruins sweat heading down the stretch. If you ask me, Montreal is just as dangerous as Boston, and these two teams boast the two best goalies in the conference in Carey Price and Tim Thomas. I will admit that I don't much like the Penguins, but personal feelings aside, this team has no realistic shot at the Stanley Cup without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the ice. Malkin is done for the season, and Crosby still hasn't played since sustaining a concussion in the game after the Winter Classic on New Year's Day. Even if Crosby does rejoin the team during the playoffs, I don't see them making it past the first round. The Rangers and Sabres are interesting teams. They have been on roller coaster rides throughout the season, and nobody quite knows how they'll perform in the playoffs (if they make it). I'm always one to look for the dark horse coming out of the bottom of the playoff standings, but this year, in the Eastern Conference, the top teams should reign supreme. It all depends on match-ups of course, but I would look for Philadelphia, Washington, Boston, or Montreal to come out of the East to compete for the Stanley Cup, with emphasis on Philadelphia and Washington. Boston and Montreal may very well face each other in the first round, necessarily eliminating one of them early. Philadelphia and Washington, on the other hand, wouldn't meet until the conference finals, as the NHL re-seeds during the playoffs. Coming soon, Western Conference analysis.