With roughly two weeks left the in the NHL regular season, the race for the Atlantic Division has become much closer than anyone had anticipated. Just a month ago, the New York Rangers had a commanding lead in the Atlantic Division and for the first seed in the Eastern Conference. The past month, however, has seen the Rangers lead in the Atlantic and the Eastern Conference shrink to just 1 point. The Rangers have 101 points on the season (5-5 in their past 10), the Pittsburgh Penguins have 100 points (8-1-1 in their last 10 games), and the Philadelphia Flyers have 96 points (7-2-1 in their last 10). While the Rangers are falling apart, the Penguins and Flyers continue to get better.
The Penguins are undoubtedly the best team in the East and possibly the entire NHL right now, but the Flyers are also getting hot at the right time. Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov has been easily the best goalie in the NHL for the month of March and players who have been relatively quiet all season have been stepping up. The Flyers are 3-1 against the Penguins this season and have not recorded a win against the Rangers this season in 5 games. The Flyers play the Penguins twice to end the season and the Rangers once, games which will factor greatly in which team gets the Atlantic title and the 1st seed in the East.
The most likely scenario I see happening is the Penguins take the 1 seed at the end of the season, the Rangers taking the 4th and the Flyers taking the 5th seed. While the Flyers have proven their ability to beat the Penguins, the 4 point gap will be very difficult to erase with only 7 games left, especially considering how well the Penguins have been playing. No team in the league can match the Penguins' depth at either the forward or defensive positions.
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