Wings Gauntlet starts tonight / Open Thread

Submitted by BornInAA on

Three teams tied in the East at 91 points - Wings, Boston, Philly.

Wings/Boston are fighting for automatic 3rd place bid. All three are fighting for the last wildcard spot behind NY Islanders with 97 points. 

We have a game in hand over Boston.

The wings play Philly at home tonight and Boston on the road tomorrow, NY Rangers on Sat.

If we beat Boston tomorrow, we only need to pick up one more point (a tie with Philly or NY) to have 94 points and Boston could only pickup 2 points vs Ottawa - we lock up 3rd place.

If we lose to Boston tomorrow, we would have to win tonight vs Philly and on the road vs the Rangers to have a chance to tie Boston.

Beating Boston is a must - do you save the best goalie for tomorrow? Or play him twice?

SCS100

April 6th, 2016 at 5:12 PM ^

If Detroit beats Boston in regulation, the Red Wings are automatically in. Boston could only tie Detroit on points and Detroit owns the head to head tiebreaker in ROW, which Boston can't catch in this scenario.

BornInAA

April 6th, 2016 at 5:39 PM ^

ROW is first tiebreaker. We have 38 row to Boston 37. We are 1-1 vs Boston. So again, we MUST beat Boston.

If teams collect the same number of points, the one with more regulation and overtime wins (statistically abbreviated as ROW) jumps ahead in the standings. Shootout wins DO NOT COUNT for tiebreaker purposes.
 
If teams share the same number of points and wins (i.e., regulation + overtime wins, excluding shootout wins), then the club with more points in their head-to-head season series prevails. If an odd number of games occurred between the teams, points collected in the first game in the city hosting an extra match will be discounted in the math.

Thad_Castle

April 6th, 2016 at 5:36 PM ^

For the Rangers game- either they will be locked in and can rest their starters, or if the Islanders are hot on their heals in points they should try to throw the game against us. Losing to us could help the Rangers get a first round matchup with Florida as a wildcard matchup rather than a divisional matchup with the Penguins who are one of the hottest teams in the NHL right now. So that game I don't think should be as hard as it looks.

s1105615

April 6th, 2016 at 5:52 PM ^

Just get to OT tonight and make sure to win tomorrow...a win tonight or against the Rangers is gravy...not to state the obvious, but Jimmy is winning, so ride that horse until he buckles beneath you

jbrandimore

April 6th, 2016 at 6:19 PM ^

Simple math - Wings have 3 games left Boston 2.

That means Boston can get 4 points maximum in their final 2 games.

So, the Wings with 5 are automatically in (2-0-1) and in some scenarios a regulation loss in Boston would still get the Wings in through a tiebreaker scenario, provided the Wings beat Philly and the Rangers.

You might see something very interesting tomorrow in Boston if the Wings win tonight.

In this case, Detroit would have 93 points to Boston's 91 and they each would have 1 game left to play. If the Detroit\Boston game is say tied late in the 3rd, Boston's coach might be tempted to pull his goalie in order to win, as letting the Wings get to OT and earn a single point might be the death knell for Boston's playoff hopes.

 

 

BOX House

April 6th, 2016 at 6:51 PM ^

Jimmy both nights. This is playoff hockey at this point, you play you're number 1 goalie. Can't afford another early exit from Mrazek on either night.

Go Wings!

UM Fan from Sydney

April 6th, 2016 at 7:21 PM ^

I'm so nervous. I have been watching the Red Wings since, well, a long time. I have never seen the Red Wings not in the playoffs. I don't know how I will feel if they miss them this year. Tonight is an absolute must win game....or at least get to overtime.