Four Metropolitan Division teams are battling for third place. Which of the New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers do we think will earn that spot?
The playoff picture in the NHL's Metropolitan Division is starting to take shape, but it's still not nearly decided yet.
The Carolina Hurricanes are a virtual lock to finish first, as they have eight more points than the Metro's second-place team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. But the Pens have six more points than the third-place team in the division, so they're likely to end their three-year playoff drought.
But third place is where it gets especially interesting for the Metro.
Right now, there are four teams nearly in a dead heat for third spot in the division: the Philadelphia Flyers (90 points), New York Islanders (89), Columbus Blue Jackets (88) and Washington Capitals (87). The Flyers and Blue Jackets have a game in hand on the Isles and Caps, which have four games remaining.
Thus, it’s going to be a photo finish for third in the Metro – and there's no guarantee the team that finishes fourth in the division will occupy one of the two Eastern Conference wild-card berths. As of Monday, the Atlantic Division's Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators occupy both wild-card spots.
If we had to predict which team will get third place, we'd say the Islanders have strong enough defense to get the job done.
Why The Islanders Have What It Takes To Finish Third In The Metro
The Isles are the best defensive team of the four, averaging a stingy 2.87 goals against per game. The surprising Flyers aren't far behind at 2.95, while the Capitals are at an even 3.00, and the Jackets average 3.06.
A large factor in those stats is the Islanders having the best goaltender of the four teams, star netminder Ilya Sorokin.
The Russian goalie struggled with the rest of the Isles in the past week, but his .909 save percentage, 2.65 goals-against average and 27.3 goals saved above expected are solid, and he has the benefit of playing behind budding star defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
Meanwhile, the Islanders' trade deadline acquisition of veteran center Brayden Schenn has also paid dividends, as he has five goals and 10 points in 15 games since coming over from the St. Louis Blues.
Schenn's Cup-winning experience will be valuable in the coming days as the team takes a businesslike approach to winning their remaining games.
And the Islanders, of course, are now about to kick off the Peter DeBoer Era behind the bench. They chose DeBoer to replace Patrick Roy right now, with three days of practice before their next game, instead of trying to hire the free agent during the off-season.
DeBoer has a proven track record of coming in and getting his teams into the playoffs. Winning a Cup has eluded DeBoer in his coaching career, but the Isles will get a boost from the structure he brings to their approach.
There may not be an abundance of flash and dash to the Islanders' attack, but if they refocus on their defense and crank out a bit of offense to win tight games, the Isles will take third place and set up a likely first-round series against the Penguins.
Our second choice to earn third in the Metro is probably the Flyers, which have gone an impressive 14-5-1 in their past 20 games. The Capitals have disappointed too many times this season to be picked over the Flyers or Islanders, while the Blue Jackets have completely cratered, losing their past six games while being outscored 20-10 in that span.
So yes, the Isles are our pick to get third spot in the Metro. They've got a lot of proud veterans in addition to their younger talent, and that's going to help carry them past the other three teams in the mix for third place. But it's going to be a compelling finish, regardless of which team wins out.
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