Battle Of Hudson

I’ll post my thoughts on the Devils moving forward at some future date, obviously there’ll be plenty of time to speculate on what happens in an offseason after Jersey’s Team has missed the playoffs for the second season in the last three years.  But after Pete DeBoer‘s uncharacteristic meltdown at the Garden today getting two bench minors including getting teed up and ejected with fifteen seconds remaining in a 4-1 loss, I do feel compelled to add my own two cents on ref Chris Rooney, who’s been in the Devils’ crosshairs since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals last year when his questionable five-minute major call on Steve Bernier and an overall lopsided game penalty-wise in favor of the Kings was annoying then.  Understandably the team took a collective pass on ripping the officiating in the wake of a Kings championship.

After a series of questionable calls and non-calls by that same ref (and against the same team) in a do-or-die game for the Devils this year though, their normally cool veneer blew over.  When Ilya Kovalchuk got ‘clearly’ tripped in the first period on what would have been a two-on-one not only was there no call but DeBoer got a bench minor for making his feelings known on that, turning an early power play into a 4-on-4.  Patrik Elias got an unsportsmanlike minor in the third period for complaining about another missed call.  Another ticky-tack call on our futille attempt to get back in the game down 4-1 with the net empty in the third period was probably the last straw for the head coach, who let Rooney have it with both barrels during the final stoppage of play with just over half a minute remaining and got sent off Earl Weaver-style.

I’m not in any way saying all these calls were the reason we lost, clearly the Rangers were the better team, have been a terrific team since the trade deadline, and the Devils’ last two months proves they have some work to do if they want to get back to being a contender next year.  Again, I’ll get to that at a later date though.  I don’t want to accuse Rooney of bias or say something worse, but the fact that now we have two straight season ends marred by this guy making one-sided calls does raise both eyebrows.  Especially when he can’t wait to tee up everyone on one side in what most refs know is going to be a heated game.  When even Pierre McGuire can put two and two together and know what’s up, you know there’s an issue.  This game – and Game 6 of the SCF last year – looked like the reffing in Remember The Titans when that one official was calling everything against the integrated team.

As far as the Devils go, I don’t care about a fine (then again it ain’t my money) – they need to publicly call out this guy and take his officiating to task.  Enough is enough, and quite honestly the Devil fans who just saw their team’s season come to an end also deserve an explanation on why the normally cool-headed coach and longest-tenured skater ‘both’ melted down in what amounted to an elimination game for us.  None of this ‘I cannot talk about it…I would love to but I cannot talk about it’ former coach Jacques Lemaire famously said after one badly reffed game in the 2009 playoffs.

As usual, there was wall-to-wall action in a tight Eastern race with nine teams jockeying for eight seeds.  Only the Pittsburgh Penguins are in a comfortable position, and may even get Sidney Crosby back before the playoffs.  In this case the rich are definitely getting richer, especially after a 3-2 win in Boston that officially clinched the top seed for the Pens this afternoon.

Other than the Penguins, only the top three Northeast teams (Montreal, Boston and Toronto) have clinched spots in the postseason, with Toronto breaking an eight-year drought without playoff hockey after a 4-1 win over rival Ottawa, in spite of being outshot 50-22 by the Sens.  So far four of the Original Six have clinched, with the Rangers currently in a position and Detroit of all teams being the only ones on the outside looking in, at least for the moment.

While Toronto celebrated, things weren’t as rosy for a slumping Montreal team, booed off their own ice after getting whipped 5-1 by a Caps team that had barely cooled off from having its eight-game winning streak snapped.  Despite the fact the Habs are currently pacing the Northeast, their position is extremely tenuous with Boston having two games in hand.

2. Montreal 59 points (24 ROW) – 3 games left
4. Boston 57 points (22 ROW) – 5 games left
5. Toronto 55 points (25 ROW) – 3 games left

With the Caps winning yet again, Winnipeg’s shootout defeat in a stirring game against the Isles up north could prove costly, as they moved three points behind Washington with just three games remaining for each team, though their head-to-head showdown still looms large on Tuesday in DC.  Winnipeg showed resilience, coming from 1-0, 3-1 and 4-3 down to force overtime but couldn’t find a way to get that all-important second point, while the Isles inched closer to their first postseason berth in five years.

3. Washington 52 points (22 ROW) – 3 games left
— Winnipeg 49 points (21 ROW) – 3 games left

6. Islanders 53 points (20 ROW) – 3 games left
7. Ottawa 52 points (19 ROW) – 4 games left
8. Rangers 50 points (19 ROW) – 4 games left
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Winnipeg 49 points (21 ROW) – 3 games left

Outside of the top nine, only the Devils haven’t officially been eliminated yet after they won two games in a row scoring a shocking six straight goals against Florida.  They’d need divine intervention to make it, even with a chance to stay alive with a win at MSG tomorrow in the day’s biggest game at 3 PM.  Among other East teams, only Boston plays tomorrow, getting those same Panthers at home at 12:30.

On Monday at 7 PM, the Jets go to Buffalo while Ottawa tries to move closer to clinching a spot at home at 7:30 against a Penguin team celebrating its top seed.  With the light schedule the next two days, I’ll probably update the standings again on Tuesday when seven of the top nine teams are in action.

With five big games last night, results held to form pretty much with only the surging Isles winning on the road – and in come-from-behind fashion at that – beating the Leafs 5-3 after falling behind 2-0 early in the first period.  Derek already recapped the Rangers’ easy 6-1 win over the Panthers, which kept them in playoff position by a slim margin over the surging Jets – who won their fifth in a row outlasting Carolina 4-3 in overtime.  For the second straight game, Winnipeg walked a tightrope blowing a late lead, but winning after regulation.

Ottawa’s 3-1 win over the Caps snapped Washington’s eight-game winning streak, and put the Jets within striking distance of the Southeast lead as well.  Montreal’s 3-2 win over Tampa gave them a temporary foothold on the Northeast lead, though the second-place Bruins have two games in hand.  And though still not realistically on the bubble, I’d be remiss not giving a public yay to the Devils finally snapping their 10-game losing streak by beating the Flyers 3-0 in Philly, pushing the Flyers’ tragic number to one while keeping the Devils on life support through at least the next couple days.

Northeast (#2 seed) battle:

2. Montreal 59 points (24 ROW) – 4 games left
4. Boston 57 points (22 ROW) – 6 games left

Southeast (#3 seed) battle:

3. Washington 50 points (21 ROW) – 4 games left
— Winnipeg 48 points (21 ROW) – 4 games left

Playoff seeding and bubble:

5. Toronto 53 points (24 ROW) – 4 games left
6. Ottawa 52 points (19 ROW) – 5 games left
7. Islanders 51 points (20 ROW) – 4 games left
8. Rangers 48 points (18 ROW) – 5 games left
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9. Winnipeg 48 points (21 ROW) – 4 games left
10. Buffalo 44 points (13 ROW) – 4 games left

Last night’s results:
Islanders 5, Toronto 3
Rangers 6, Florida 1
Ottawa 3, Washington 1
Winnipeg 4, Carolina 3 (OT)
Montreal 3, Tampa Bay 2

Tonight’s games:

Pittsburgh at Boston – Boston looks to get back on track in the Northeast race while Pittsburgh coasts toward the #1 seed.

Rangers at Buffalo – needless to say a huge game for both teams.  If Buffalo wants to keep their faint hopes alive, they need a regulation win, while the Rangers need at least a point to remain in the #8 position.

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.