Stop me if you’ve heard this before – the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference is producing the tightest standings race in memory (and mine goes back a long way).
It is – quite simply – remarkable.
By the numbers, then: In first spot in the conference sit the Carolina Hurricanes with 47 points. Drop down 15 rungs to the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets and you see a ‘tumble’ of just 11 points.
From 47 to 36. There’s your separation.
Comparably and conversely, the Western Conference leading Colorado Avalanche who’ve been manhandling the rest of the league with relative ease lead the way with a whopping 61 points. In last in the west? Chicago, some 29 points in arrears with 32 points in total.
The east is a dogfight not seen . . . maybe ever before.
Every team is holding hard onto hope, and every team is dealing with nightly anxiety while checking the out-of-town scoreboard. The anxiety and the hope are likely to continue well into the springtime months.
For the three Canadian clubs, well, they’re all in the mix. That includes the stumbling Toronto Maple Leafs who are meandering through an improbable first half. The Buds are a reasonable and achievable five points behind Florida for the final wild-card position and six back of Washington, with a game in hand. Given Toronto’s star power (a star power that has not shown up as of yet . . . Auston Matthews), previously more than capable goaltending and a defence that was just bolstered by the return of premiere shutdown guy Chris Tanev, could flip the switch. Of all the teams standing below the cutline, Toronto would be the one to keep and eye on.
Ditto for the Ottawa Senators.
Ottawa’s had its typical up-and-down journey to the Christmas break. A recent string of successes – winners of four straight coupled with an overtime loss, and a point – and Ottawa’s crept back into the chase with zest. The Senators are a single digit back of the Panthers.
“We’ve been playing some pretty good hockey for a while now,” said veteran Claude Giroux during the recent run. “Even some games that we’ve lost, we play good games. And, you know, sometimes it’s good to kind of reset.”
“It’s been a lot of hockey,” Ottawa head coach Travis Green said, reflecting on a busy few months. “We had that stretch of road games where we were on the road for 21 of 26 days and just coming off four (games) in six (days), so well timed.”
Montreal is the only one of the three Canadian ‘easties’ currently holding court. The Habs are second in the Atlantic and fourth in the conference. An aggressive approach on the trade front has paid dividends. The team has added veterans Phillip Danault and Alexandre Texier in recent weeks. Both look like solid additions.
Outside of that Canadian contingent, there have been some more-than pleasant surprises south of the border.
The two that stand out here in the east are Philadelphia and, especially, Detroit.
Red Wing fans could be excused for running low on patience given the team’s almost-there approach to breaking through. Given that this is an organization steeped in a winning tradition – four Stanley Cups since 1997 – there hasn’t been much of that in recent years. The Wings entered 2025-26 with nine straight seasons of missing the playoffs.
The biggest turnaround seems to be the team’s consistency. If the Wings lose this time around, they tend to bounce back quickly with a couple of wins. Head coach Todd McLellan’s done wonders here.
And speaking on coaching, how about the job new guy Rick Tocchet’s done in Philly?
Outstanding.
The Flyers sit with relative confidence in the playoff picture, sporting a mark of 19-10-7. No one had this team pegged for the postseason but as of Christmas Eve and the break, Tocchet’s charges are second in the Metropolitan Division, just a deuce back of Carolina.
Where – and how – this all ends come April 16th when the regular season comes to a stop is anyone’s guess. Safe to say, though, if you relish a good horse race, latch your saddle onto the NHL’s Eastern Conference.
Merry Christmas all!
OTTAWA SENATORS WEEK AHEAD:
Saturday, Dec. 27: Ottawa at Toronto (7 pm)
Monday, Dec. 29: Columbus at Ottawa (7 pm)
Thursday, Jan. 1: Washington at Ottawa (1 pm)
thegrossgame@yahoo.com
Photo: CourtesyTSN
