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Street Pharmacist · 02-26-2015, 01:19 AM

Games above .500:

Nashville +28
Anaheim +21
St Louis +20
Chicago +16
Vancouver +13
Winnipeg +11
LA +11
Calgary +9
---------------------
Minnesota +9
San Jose +7
Dallas +2
Colorado +2
Phoenix - 14
Edmonton -16

Colorado and Dallas are done. Finishing at 11 games over .500 is almost impossible.

If the goal is 95 points or 13 games over .500, then San Jose would need to finish their last 21 games at 6 over (13-7-1 or so). That's too tall an order I think. I'm actually comfortable calling them out of the playoffs. They still have a chance, but with their play of late, and the competition, I don't see it happening.

Vancouver needs only to play at .500 and they have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league. Their average opponent points% for the rest of their games is only around .500 and they get a few more teams on the second night of back to backs. They do hold our fate a little as they play the Kings 3 times, and Jets and sharks twice each. And don't look now, but their goal differential is almost tied with ours. I'm comfortable giving them a spot.

That really leaves 4 teams (LA, Minnesota, Winnipeg and Calgary) for 3 spots.

Minnesota has almost nothing but difficult opponents for the rest of the year. As Bingo showed, they have the hardest schedule in the league by opponents points%. They play Nashville 3 more times in Nashville. They play St Louis 3 more times and two of those are in St Louis. They also play Anaheim, Washington (2x), NYR, NYI, CHI. Those are tough outs. I don't see Dubnyk stealing them the show.

LA's schedule is reasonable, with average difficulty of opponents. What should help the flames though is their home/road split. LA has 9 home games remaining, and 14... yes that's right 14 road games remaining. They are 20-6-6 at home and 9-12-6 on the road. You may point to their 8 game win streak which included 4 road wins. I would point out that those 4 wins are against TB (fair enough), Colorado, Columbus and SJ (stadium game = road?). Hardly that impressive. Their run is still worrisome and they only need to finish 2 games above the .500 mark to hit 95 points.

Winnipeg has St Louis 4 more times, Nashville and quite a few other difficult teams, with few "easy ones". Their schedule is the second most difficult in the NHL by opponents points%. Their home/road split is irrelevant due to the fact they have the same record home or away. They only need to be a couple games over .500 to hit the magic number.

Calgary has no real Achilles coming. Their home/road split is fairly even and their difficulty is about average. Their last two games are at home to LA on April 9th and in Winnipeg on the 11th. Those could be incredibly interesting.

02-26-2015, 01:19 AM	#558
Street Pharmacist Franchise Player Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Salmon with Arms Exp:	Games above .500: Nashville +28 Anaheim +21 St Louis +20 Chicago +16 Vancouver +13 Winnipeg +11 LA +11 Calgary +9 --------------------- Minnesota +9 San Jose +7 Dallas +2 Colorado +2 Phoenix - 14 Edmonton -16 Colorado and Dallas are done. Finishing at 11 games over .500 is almost impossible. If the goal is 95 points or 13 games over .500, then San Jose would need to finish their last 21 games at 6 over (13-7-1 or so). That's too tall an order I think. I'm actually comfortable calling them out of the playoffs. They still have a chance, but with their play of late, and the competition, I don't see it happening. Vancouver needs only to play at .500 and they have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the league. Their average opponent points% for the rest of their games is only around .500 and they get a few more teams on the second night of back to backs. They do hold our fate a little as they play the Kings 3 times, and Jets and sharks twice each. And don't look now, but their goal differential is almost tied with ours. I'm comfortable giving them a spot. That really leaves 4 teams (LA, Minnesota, Winnipeg and Calgary) for 3 spots. Minnesota has almost nothing but difficult opponents for the rest of the year. As Bingo showed, they have the hardest schedule in the league by opponents points%. They play Nashville 3 more times in Nashville. They play St Louis 3 more times and two of those are in St Louis. They also play Anaheim, Washington (2x), NYR, NYI, CHI. Those are tough outs. I don't see Dubnyk stealing them the show. LA's schedule is reasonable, with average difficulty of opponents. What should help the flames though is their home/road split. LA has 9 home games remaining, and 14... yes that's right 14 road games remaining. They are 20-6-6 at home and 9-12-6 on the road. You may point to their 8 game win streak which included 4 road wins. I would point out that those 4 wins are against TB (fair enough), Colorado, Columbus and SJ (stadium game = road?). Hardly that impressive. Their run is still worrisome and they only need to finish 2 games above the .500 mark to hit 95 points. Winnipeg has St Louis 4 more times, Nashville and quite a few other difficult teams, with few "easy ones". Their schedule is the second most difficult in the NHL by opponents points%. Their home/road split is irrelevant due to the fact they have the same record home or away. They only need to be a couple games over .500 to hit the magic number. Calgary has no real Achilles coming. Their home/road split is fairly even and their difficulty is about average. Their last two games are at home to LA on April 9th and in Winnipeg on the 11th. Those could be incredibly interesting.