We are roughly one-quarter of the way through the 2018/19 NHL season. The well reviewed 5imes opened the season with the Tampa Bay Lightning as +1000 favorites to win the Stanley Cup, followed by the Predators at +1100 and the Maple Leafs. The Golden Knights, Capitals, Penguins, and Jets all at +1200.
Capitals are on a roll – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
Well, a few of those teams have fallen off, but they were not wrong about Tampa Bay or Toronto who have climbed the ranks all the up to just +360 and +370 respectively and Nashville is not far behind at +800.
A Mess in the Metropolitan Division
Despite the Capitols having 17 wins and the Blue Jackets 16 (at the time of writing), the Caps seem to have a firm handle on the Metropolitan Division. They have won eight of their last ten games while the Blue Jackets having split 5-5 and in their head-to-head meeting the other day, Washington routed Columbus 4-0.
The Caps fourth line is stacked with talent and both Jaskin and Boyd netted their first goals in Capitals jerseys. This depth should set them apart from the rest of the Metro Division as the season wears on.
It pains us to say it, but this is the worst division in the NHL at the moment. The Penguins have fallen from +1200 odds down to +2600. This is one of the weakest Pittsburgh teams that we’ve seen in years. The Islanders are improving as a squad with Trotz in the lineup, but are they going to be able to make a real run at the playoffs? Let’s not even talk about the Devils, the Flyers, or the Hurricanes.
Blue Jackets and Flyers have aspirations that may be unmet – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
Tampa Tops the Atlantic Division
The Lighting have a firm grip atop the eastern conference at the moment. They are the No. 1 scoring team in the NHL right now, ninth in defence, and eight in power plays to kills percentage. To showcase how bad the Metro is, the Lightning are undefeated within their division this season.
So even though they are going to resort to Louis Domingue in the net, we shouldn’t expect much to change. Domingue’s save percentage is .906 with an average 2.94 against, which is only slightly worse than the team defensive average of 2.84. On Monday night they get a chance to move another game up on the rest of the Metro Division when they host the Rangers.
Although though the Toronto Maple Leafs are a few games behind the Lighting, they are still a few games up on the rest of the east in its entirety. 3rd in offense and 7th at stopping pucks from hitting the back of the net, the Maples leafs would be standing on top of any other division right now.
Goalie Louis Domingue is a welcome sight in the Tampa nets this season – file photo courtesy of Lewis Bleiman
It looks like we could have a tight race between the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, and Montreal Canadiens for that final guaranteed playoff berth in the Atlantic. The Sabres have had a tough schedule this season but it will finally relax a little bit which could give them the opportunity to stake their claim to post season.
That said, the Bruins and the Canadiens are both in better shape at this point than the New York Islanders and New York Rangers. So, given the state of the Metro, there is a good chance that five playoff berths from the eastern conference go to the Atlantic Division.
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