The NHL's regular-season schedule is down to its final 17 days, crunch time for the six teams still in the hunt for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Globe and Mail enlisted the services of an NHL East pro scout to determine which teams have the best chances of qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs based on the current standings, remaining schedule difficulty and recent performance.
Boston Bruins: "They're in. The way I figure it is the Bruins only have to go 4-5-1 in their last nine games to be among the top eight, and they play the [Toronto Maple] Leafs twice."
Philadelphia Flyers: "I just can't see it. They have a difficult schedule. They play the [New York] Rangers, [New Jersey] Devils and Pittsburgh [Penguins] each twice more. That's a tough road to travel. Plus, they are giving up way too many shots and their goaltending hasn't been good enough."
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- Boston Bruins
- Buffalo Sabres
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Florida Panthers
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Rangers
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Washington Capitals
- Craig Anderson
- Nik Antropov
- Daniel Briere
- Brian Campbell
- Chris Drury
- Ryan Miller
- Mats Sundin
- Tomas Vokoun
Buffalo Sabres: "I like their chances because they are rolling [three wins in a row]. Ryan Miller has provided solid goaltending and although this team is missing [Chris] Drury, [Daniel] Brière and [Brian] Campbell from the team that advanced to the Eastern final the past two years, they have experience in pressure-packed games.
"Another reason to like the Sabres is their ability to rise above injury problems. Credit their coach [Lindy Ruff]. He's a master of getting his players to overcome injury woes."
Washington Capitals: "That loss to the Chicago Blackhawks [on Wednesday] severely hurt their chances. They don't have a difficult schedule, but they have to get better goaltending if they want to pull off a miracle finish."
Florida Panthers: "The Panthers likely are too far behind, but I don't want to count them out for three reasons: they don't have a difficult schedule left, they have been playing the best among all these teams and their goaltenders have been stopping everything lately. The Panthers, with [netminders] Tomas Vokoun and Craig Anderson, have the best save percentage in the league [.919]."
Toronto Maple Leafs: "Too late for them. Without Mats Sundin [groin] and Nik Antropov [knee], they have no chance."
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