It Comes Down to 3 Weeks

When looking at nightly match ups lately I've been asking myself who we would like to win. The answer always comes down to "pick your poison", so the only thing we can really does as Flyers fans is to root for games to end in regulation. The Flyers absolutely need to get 4 points in the next five games. But like a dog that took a dump in my pillowcase, I can't even look at them right now, so I'm going to focus on the three teams trying to get in their pants. I mean playoff spot.

Flyers (80) Next Five:
Thrashers (MUST WIN)
Rangers
Islanders (MUST WIN)
Rangers
Devils
......
Buffalo (79) Next Five:
Lightning
Leafs
Senators
Senators
Canadiens
The Sabres will almost definitely win their next two games. Although the Lightning have had some serious success in their last three games (beating the Islanders, Bruins, and Rangers by a combined score of 14-5), with less than 10 games left teams are going to start to come out and bury them. The Leafs are a joke and I expect them to somehow get two points out of the Senators. This will put them at 84 points after a sure-fire loss to Montreal.

Washington (78) Next Five:
Predators
Blackhawks
Thrashers
Hurricanes
Lightning
The Caps might be the most dangerous team in the Flyers rearview. I can see them, although I don't know by what means, getting 7 points out of the next possible ten. Nashville is also 2 points out of the 8th playoff spot in the West, so their game on Tuesday should be a battle. Speaking of battles, their game against the Hurricanes on the 25th is sure to be a war. With only one team, possibly, getting in from the South every head-to-head game is more significant than a playoff game as they each have a 4 point swing.

Florida (78) Next Five:
Hurricanes
Lightning
Lightning
Thrashers
Capitals
I'm sure this will come back to bite me in the ass, but I can't see the Panthers as much of a threat to any of these teams. They've sneakily managed to win all seven of their games in March and re-enter the playoff picture, but two of those games were against the Islanders and two were against the Thrashers. With two games against the Lightning and one against the Thrashers in the next 5 I'm sure they have themselves tricked into believing that they could make the playoffs. But when they get 6 points out of these next 5 games, and only have 3 left (as opposed to everyone else's 4), the Caps and the Hurricanes are sure to end their run.

So, not considering the Hurricanes, Bruins or Rangers, this is what I see the rankings between these 4 teams looking like after their next five games (if the Flyers get 4 points):
1. Caps - 85
2. Flyers - 84
3. Sabres - 84
4. Panthers - 84

And at the point it gets even harder for the boys - 2 games against the Pens and 1 against the Devils. The long and short of it is at the beginning of the game the score is 0-0. From that point on they need to find a way, any way possible, to win that game that night.