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The Metropolitan Division continues to be the most dysfunctional division in the NHL, with its ceaseless “no, you take it” battle for playoff sports. While the top three are the same as yesterday, there’s been a big shakeup at WC2.
With their 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the vaunted Pittsburgh Penguins vaulted from fifth place to second and now own the second wild-card spot, displacing in particular the Philadelphia Flyers, who fell 6-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets to put themselves in a heap of trouble.
The standings as of Sunday morning:
If at any point you feel bad about the Washington’s play lately, look at Philly and feel better. They’re on a seven-game losing streak with just two loser points in the group. They’ve had a league-worst 84 percent saving percentage during five-on-five during that stretch. Now they’re one point ahead of the Caps but further ahead in their schedule. They’re very vulnerable.
Before we talk about how the Caps could catch them, a moment with the models:
| Source | % |
|---|---|
| HockeyViz | 34 |
| Moneypuck | 33 |
| The Athletic | – |
A tiny tick down from yesterday. If I could emphasize something about these figures, it’s not just that the Caps are low because they’re flailing – it’s more because there are so many teams flailing alongside them. It’s a ferocious, pitched battle for who can disappoint marginally less than everyone else.
At the 6 PM slot today, a.k.a. the dinnertime-ruiner slot, the Caps will welcome the Senators to town. The Sens are tired and surely reeling from the mental contortions involved in doing this last night.
The Senators are angry because a team disrespectfully put the puck in the empty net during a game in Ottawa? No way! pic.twitter.com/SiMJDTjXdz
— Michael (@mic_mazz) April 7, 2024
…one month after doing this.
The Caps could improve more than 10 percentage points with a win today, but they could drop even more with a loss. The good news is the Caps are rested, playing a tired opponent, and clearly favored to win. I don’t want to use the phrase “m̵̡̳͐͌͐̽̂̓͛̽͆̃͝͠͝u̸̼̥̪̱͔̝̗͖̲͓̱̍̇͋̏̈̍̇͋͐́͜s̸̬͉͙͇̠͇̄̃̂́̌̒̓̾̇̀̚ͅt̷̥̜̕̚͜ ̴̧̰͍̬̲̭͇̮̹̜́͜w̵̖͎͒͐̓̏̊̑̽i̸̢͍̫̙̘̤̅̈́͌̈́͑̀͑͘n̸̰͉̼̹̣̱̾̓,” and so I won’t. I have retroactively obscured it from the previous sentence. You cannot read it.
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