Crossing The NHL’s Atlantic Division: Week 28
Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to Crossing The Atlantic, our weekly Atlantic Division round up. We’ve enlisted the help of writers who cover their teams on a daily basis from across the FanSided network. In the order of the Atlantic Division standings, here’s this week’s edition. Enjoy!
Boston Bruins
By Andrew Thompson of Causeway Crowd
The Boston Bruins let the game get away from them last night. In their defense, it was one of the more unusual configurations the Bruins have played this season. The only way it could have gotten weirder for Boston would have been to put the pads on Zdeno Chara and have him stand in the crease.
The Bruins have nothing to gain in winning the Presidents’ Trophy. It’s just a piece of hardware that looks really nice behind a glass case. It meant nothing to us when Vancouver Canucks fans touted it, and it should remain nothing more than a footnote for the Bruins now. They need to focus on giving Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Jarome Iginla rest, and letting the Providence kids have a game in the sunshine.
That being said, the Bruins should look forward to playing the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round.
Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Montreal Canadiens
By Andy Bayer
Montreal Canadiens – Canada’s team. The Habs are going to be the only Canadian team in the playoffs, the first time that’s happened since 1973, when the Habs won the Cup (an omen of things to come?). But if the Habs’ recent play is any indication, the only cups they’ll come close to are their jock straps. The Habs results have been consistently good lately, but their play has been anything but consistent. Two games this past week were case in point. The Habs scored seven goals against the Senators to win but they had only 33 per cent of the shot attempts and were drastically outplayed. The next day they beat the hot Red Wings and controlled possession even though it was a close game.
The Habs may have caught a big break for the playoffs, as Ben Bishop got hurt against the Leafs last night. They may need that break, as their recent shooting luck will not continue throughout the playoffs, especially if they face Bishop. As a Habs fan, I advise Canadians not to get behind the Canadiens in the playoffs. I fear it will only lead to more disappointment.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Tampa Bay Lightning
By Tasha Meares of Bolts By The Bay
This week certainly did not start off the way the Tampa Bay Lightning had hoped. As the Lightning kicked off the final week of the regular season, they were hit with some rather unpleasant news. In the opening minutes of their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, they would lose starting goaltender Ben Bishop to an upper-body Injury.
On the bright side, when Anders Lindback took the net in Bishop’s stead, the team didn’t miss a beat. The Bolts continued to play the kind of hockey that we know they can, and Lightning left-winger Ondrej Palat continued to show why he should win the Calder Trophy this year, by scoring two goals
Ultimately, the Bolts would defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0, thus eliminating them from postseason contention. (Sorry, guys.) [Editor’s Note: No, you’re not.]
The Bolts certainly have a rocky road ahead of them. Next, they will host former Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier and the Philadelphia Flyers. Philly is a very physical team, and the Lightning are really going to have to bring out their bruisers if they want to stand toe-to-toe with the Flyers, who just recently clinched their berth in the postseason.
After this, the Bolts will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Lightning’s final home game of the regular season. There is no denying that the Blue Jackets are going to be coming to Tampa Bay looking for a win, as they are currently still battling for one of the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.
In their final game of the season, the Lightning will head out on the road to face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
This is certainly going to be an interesting final stretch for the Bolts, which can ultimately change in the blink of an eye depending on the status of Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop as more information is made available.
The Lightning have overcome their fair share of adversity over the past few seasons. We here in the Bolts Nation know that the team has what they need to get the job done. All that is left to do now is put one skate in front of the other.
Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Detroit Red Wings
By John Evans of Octopus Thrower
The Red Wings have (almost) done it again! Three games left, one point will clinch a playoff spot, and aside from the Blue Jackets, all the other teams are a long way away. Yes, things are pretty alright in the Motor City for the time being, as they’re an inch away from a 23rd consecutive post-season appearance.
The Wings got things going right with a big win over the Bruins Wednesday night, which is a potential playoff matchup in the first round. They followed up with a win over the Sabres, another loss to the Canadiens and another predictable win over the Sabres. The Panthers may have owned the Red Wings all year, but they swept the Sabres so take that!
The Wings close the season out with a matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a more likely first-round series. That’s followed up with a match against the Carolina Hurricanes Friday, and closing the season in St. Louis for an afternoon game.
Should you ever be curious about Fenwick, our site had a fantastic article up earlier this week, and it’s worth checking out. In the meantime, let’s all sit back and enjoy the team from the non-existent (Born and raised in) South Detroooooit.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Toronto Maple Leafs
By Tim Bayer of Editor In Leaf
The Tampa Bay Lightning did us all a favour and put the Toronto Maple Leafs’ playoff chances out of their misery by winning 3-0 last night. The Leafs actually played pretty well in the early stages of the game, but couldn’t solve either Ben Bishop or his injury replacement, Anders Lindback. By the time the third period rolled around, the Leafs simply looked gassed and could hardly generate any offense.
With only two games left in the season, the only thing left for the Leafs to play for are their jobs for next season. 23-year-old winger Carter Ashton was called up from the Toronto Marlies before the Lightning game and was given an opportunity to play alongside Nazem Kadri and David Clarkson, but didn’t do much with the opportunity. I would expect other youngsters like Jerry D’Amigo (23 years old), Peter Holland (23) and maybe even Josh Leivo (20) to get some playing time as the Leafs wrap-up the season.
General manager Dave Nonis will have to make some decisions on veterans who are set to become unrestricted free agents on July 1, including Dave Bolland, Mason Raymond, Nikolai Kulemin, Jay McClement and Paul Ranger. I would be inclined to sign Kulemin and Ranger out of that group and let the rest of them walk. Bolland has missed all but 23 games this season due to an ankle injury from November that he still hasn’t recovered from, and is apparently looking for a long-term, big money contract. Raymond is a good offensive player but is allergic to defense and makes some poor decisions with the puck in his own end. McClement is nothing more than a fourth-line centre with a limited skill-set.
The Leafs wrap things up with a game against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise on Thursday, followed by the most meaningless Battle of Ontario ever against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Go Sharks.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Ottawa Senators
By Jared Crozier of SenShot
The Ottawa Senators finally had mathematically confirmed on Tuesday what everyone had known for about a month – that the playoffs were not in their immediate future.
Ales Hemsky has continued to be a revelation since coming to the Senators, but he needs a new contract. Hemsky’s three points against the Islanders on Tuesday gave him 16 points in 17 games since the trade from Edmonton.
The Senators will be on the outside looking in, and to make matters worse, they have to watch Anaheim use their pick in the first round, which will likely be a top-10 selection.
The next two years will be pivotal in their development with a number of key players (Jason Spezza, Milan Michalek, Bobby Ryan, Clarke MacArthur, Marc Methot, Craig Anderson and Hemsky) all in or about to be entering the final year of their contracts.
Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Florida Panthers
By Rogerio Istiraneopulos of The Rat Trick
The Florida Panthers will end the 2013-14 season battling for the 28th position in the league with the Edmonton Oilers. Both teams have two games left but the Oilers are one point ahead. That will be the most exciting competition Panthers fans will get until April 15th when the draft lottery is held. Hopefully the luck will be on the Panthers’ side this year and arrive to Philadelphia in June holding the first overall pick.
I honestly thought it couldn’t get any worse than last year, but the Panthers found a way to prove me wrong. Even though we will not finish last in the standings this year, it doesn’t seem like this team did any better. Last year our top scorer was Tomas Fleischmann with 35 points (12-23-35). Keep in mind that was in 48 games. This year our top scorer is Scottie Upshall with 37 points (15-22-37) over the course of 71 games played. This team needs huge improvements on offense and defense. It will be a busy offseason for the cats so that will keep our hopes up. Hopefully we will have Samuel Bennett or Sam Reinhart wearing our red sweater next year.
Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Buffalo Sabres
By James Gleason of Editor In Leaf
With just three games to go in the Buffalo Sabres’ season, injuries have taken its toll on the team. With goalies Michal Neuvirth and Jhonas Enroth already out, Nathan Lieuwen suffered an apparent concussion against the Flyers Sunday night. Matt Hackett got the start for the Sabres as they fell against the Red Wings 4-2 last night. He made 33 saves in the loss as Zegmus Girgensons netted his first career two-goal game but it was not enough as goals by Ben Smith, Pavel Datsyuk, David Legwand and Jiri Hudler propelled Detroit to the win. The Sabres play the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins and New York Islanders to close out the year and it could very well be a loss in every one of those games as the season ends.