NHL Metropolitan Division Update

Another week passes and another week of Metropolitan Division play leaves us with another break down.  Almost all of the teams in the Metro (goodness that sounds weird) division have played 9 games, so these standing are a little more even than they were the last time I did an update.

Nonetheless, the Pittsburgh Penguins remain on top of the standings at 14 points, and that point total is tied for best in the Eastern Conference with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Metro division isn't going to be won or lost in the month of October, and the Carolina Hurricanes are keeping pace with the Penguins with 11 points.  The New York Islanders are in 3rd with 9 points and are preparing for a Friday night tilt with the 1st place Penguins.  If the Islanders were to win that game in Pittsburgh it would propel them at least into a tie of 2nd place in the division, and would make the division race a lot tighter.  The Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals continue to be dangerous teams in my opinion.  The Blue Jackets have the defense and goaltending to be able to hang around in the division, and the Capitals and their offensive capabilities can never be counted out.

The bottom half of the division is the "head scratcher".  Teams that were expected to be in the discussion for winning the Metropolitan division have gotten off to near historic horrid starts.  The NY Rangers would be atop that list.  With goaltending like Lundquist you are always expected to be in every game.  However, with a 2-5 start, the Rangers have dug themselves a 10pt hole in the division.  The Flyers were a team that people (not me) thought would be a playoff caliber team, and that certainly hasn't happened yet this season.  After 8 games they have 2 points to show for their efforts.  At this rate, if things don't change, they will be out of the playoff picture by mid-February.

I realize that this division is not won or lost anytime soon, but a hot start can propel you to the playoffs just as a cold start can dig you a hole that might be impossible to climb out of.  Until next time...keep your eye on the Metro Division (goodness that sounds stupid) as things will only get tighter in the next few weeks with division play kicking into full gear!

METROPOLITAN		GP	W	L	OT	PTS	ROW	GF	GA	HOME	AWAY	L10
	PITTSBURGH	9	7	2	0	14	6	31	20	5-1-0	2-1-0	7-2-0
	CAROLINA	9	4	2	3	11	4	22	26	1-1-3	3-1-0	4-2-3
	NY ISLANDERS	9	3	3	3	9	2	29	28	2-1-3	1-2-0	3-3-3
	COLUMBUS	9	4	5	0	8	3	23	23	2-2-0	2-3-0	4-5-0
	WASHINGTON	9	4	5	0	8	2	26	29	3-3-0	1-2-0	4-5-0
	NEW JERSEY	9	1	5	3	5	1	18	30	1-0-1	0-5-2	1-5-3
	NY RANGERS	7	2	5	0	4	2	11	29	0-0-0	2-5-0	2-5-0
	PHILADELPHIA	8	1	7	0	2	1	11	24	1-4-0	0-3-0	1-7-0