Let me preface this by saying that I’m not going to be pissed like some if the Canes were to gain 1-6 points in the next 3 games. I was all about the tank earlier in the season, but at this point, the result of the games aren't all that important. I would prefer Forsberg or Galchenyuk, but being in a position to draft Faksa, Gaunce or one of the D prospects excites me as well. With that being said, I couldn’t help but notice that the Leafs and Wild were able to pull out unexpected victories against Buffalol and L.A. Tampa took Winnipeg to OT and won. Combined with a Carolina loss, I assumed that this was a good night for those on the tankwagon. I decided to take a look at the bottom of the standings for the first time in a while.
Carolina is currently sitting 23rd overall, which would give them the 8th overall pick (ignoring the lottery). Carolina is currently 2 points away from the 4th overall pick with the Wild having a game in hand on the Canes. Columbus has already clinched the worst record in the league. Carolina owns the ROW tiebreaker on Edmonton and Montreal. As a result, Carolina would need to lose out in regulation and Montreal/Edmonton would have to win out for the Canes to finish lower than either of them (highly unlikely). As I mentioned above, Minnesota sits at 27 with a game in hand. Again, Carolina has already clinched the ROW tiebreaker. Carolina is one point away from the 5th pick and leads the ROW tiebreaker vs. Toronto 31-30. Carolina also owns the H2H tiebreaker 7-3. Carolina is 1 point up on both the 25th place Islanders and the 24th place Ducks with both having a game in hand on the Canes. Carolina has already clinched the ROW tiebreaker on the Isles. The Ducks are 1 back of Carolina in terms of ROW and own the H2H tiebreaker 4-2. Carolina is down by 1 to 22nd place Tampa with the Bolts having a game in hand and having a 2 game ROW advantage with 4 to play. Carolina owns the H2H tiebreaker 7-6. Carolina is down by 3 to 21st place Atlantapeg with the Thrasherjets leading the ROW tiebreaker by one. Atlantapeg wins the H2H tiebreaker 8-5.
The remaining schedules for the current and likely bottom 10 are as follows…
Atlantapeg – at Florida, at New York Islanders, vs. Tampa
Tampa – vs. Washington, at Montreal, at Toronto, at Atlantapeg
Carolina – at Ottawa, vs. Montreal, at Florida
Anaheim – vs. Edmonton, at Vancouver, at Edmonton, at Calgary
New York – vs. Ottawa, at New Jersey, vs. Winnipeg, at Columbus
Toronto – at Buffalol, vs. Tampa, at Montreal
Minnesota – at Chicago, at Nashville, vs. Chicago, vs. Nashville
Montreal – vs. Tampa, at Carolina, vs. Toronto
Edmonton – at Anaheim, at Los Angeles, vs. Anaheim, at Vancouver
Put on your Carnac costumes… how low can Carolina go?
Source:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm...12012&type=LEA
