With Pittsburgh clinching the #1 seed in all but name, at least one of the eight playoff pieces in the East is pretty much locked in with the Pens a game or two away from clinching home-ice.  The Northeast now has three teams battling for the #2 seed and division title with surging Toronto remaining within four points of the #2 seed after both Montreal and Buffalo lost last night (though Boston gained a point against Buffalo), and it seems assured that at least two of those Original Six will be playing in the #4-5 series in the opening round of the playoffs.  That’d be a nice way to kick off the festivities.

Northeast (#2 seed) battle:

2. Boston 57 points (22 ROW) – 6 games left
4. Montreal 57 points (23 ROW) – 5 games left
5. Toronto 53 points (24 ROW) – 5 games left

In the Southeast both Washington and Winnipeg continue to skate downhill, with the Caps on an 8-game winning streak, while the Jets have won four in a row.  Their penultimate meeting of the season looms huge, but the Jets have to pick up another couple points on the Caps along the way before it matters.

Southeast (#3 seed) battle:

3. Washington 50 points (21 ROW) – 5 games left
— Winnipeg 46 points (20 ROW) – 5 games left

And then we get back to the bubble which has only four or five teams remaining.  Somewhat embarassingly I’m compelled to put Buffalo back on the bubble after I declared them dead a while back.  Since then, they’ve won three in a row and pulled to within two points of a spot, so I can’t say they’re out of it now…though I still don’t think they’re realistically in it either considering they have just four games left (two fewer than the eighth seeded Rangers) and wouldn’t beat anyone on the regulation wins tiebreaker – with just 13 in the ROW column – so they’d need to make up an extra point anyway.  They’re more in it than we are at least.

Only Florida’s been mathematically eliminated but Carolina, Tampa Bay, us and the Flyers can all realistically book tee times as well – with us and the Flyers playing tonight to see who can push the other off the cliff first.

6. Ottawa 50 points (18 ROW) – 6 games left
7. Islanders 49 points (19 ROW) – 5 games left
8. Rangers 46 points (17 ROW) – 6 games left
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9. Winnipeg 46 points (20 ROW) – 5 games left
10. Buffalo 44 points (13 ROW) – 4 games left

Last night’s results:
Buffalo 3, Boston 2 (SO)
Pittsburgh 6, Montreal 4

Tonight’s games:
Islanders at Toronto 7 PM – a streaking Isles team (7-1-2 in its last ten) looks to keep up the momentum towards their first postseason berth in six years while Toronto tries to move a step closer toward first-round home ice, and official clinching of their first berth since the lockout.

Florida at Rangers 7 PM – the Rangers look for revenge against a Florida team that beat them a few weeks back, and redemption after a bad loss to the Flyers the other night.

Tampa Bay at Montreal 7:30 PM – Montreal looks to regain its footing after being run off the ice by the Pens last night for their third straight loss.

Washington at Ottawa 7:30 PM – Ottawa looks to further re-solidify its hold on a spot after three straight wins, while the Caps know they have to keep winning (already 9-0-1 in its last ten) to keep the Jets at bay.

Carolina at Winnipeg 8 PM – Winnipeg gets another opportunity to keep the pressure on in the middle of a stretch playing seven straight non-playoff teams with the first six of those games at home – of which they’ve already won the first four.