Race for the Central Division title
From February 21st through March 2nd, the Detroit Red Wings will take on the Chicago Blackhawks three times in a span of five games. With the race in the Central Division, and consequently the Western Conference so close, the Wings will have an opportunity to get a leg up on Nashville in the last month or so of the season.
From now until the end of the regular season on April 7th for the Red Wings, they will play 12 of their 21 games against opponents who are as of this moment not making the playoffs. While they do have 9 more games against some of the top Western Conference teams, 5 of these games are against the Nashville Predators. Basically, the Wings will determine their own fate. If the Wings can win most of their games against non-playoff teams and win the series against the Predators, the Wings will have the top spot in the Central Division regardless of their performance in the other four games.
Personally, I don’t care if the Wings win the Western Conference or not. That hasn’t really helped us in the past. However, the Wings don’t play well against Anaheim or San Jose it seems and I would prefer if we didn’t have to play either team in the first round of the playoffs. By winning our division, the Wings won’t have to play either team (according to the standings right now) in the first round.
Nashville has 22 games left in the season. 13 of which are against playoff contenders while 8 are against teams that are not making the playoffs at this point. 3 of those 8 games are against the Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche who both have 62 points as of last night. While the playoffs appear to be a longshot for these two clubs, it still is a possibility.
Based on my comparison of the two teams’ schedules for the remainder of the season, it appears that Detroit has a slight edge as a majority of their remaining games are against non-playoff teams. Ultimately, the division title will likely rest with the team who wins the series between Nashville and Detroit.
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