Weekly Atlantic Division Snapshot: 10/16 - 10/22

by John Fischer on Oct 16, 2011 12:00 PM EDT in Division Snapshot

Welcome to the first weekly Atlantic Division snapshot of the 2011-12 regular season. For those who are unaware, every Sunday during the season I like to take a moment to highlight the divisional standings, provide a quick summary of how each team did in the prior week, and note who each team will play in the coming week. In this first edition,the Pittsburgh Penguins played the most games so far and earned the most points so they are right on top.

Atlantic Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Pittsburgh	6	3	1	2	8
Philadelphia	4	3	0	1	7
New York Islanders	4	3	1	0	6
New Jersey	4	3	1	0	6
New York Rangers	3	0	1	2	2

(updated 10.16.2011 at 8:53 AM EDT)

Right now, everyone in the division is looking good except for Our Hated Rivals. It's always good to see them at the bottom. As much as we can hope that the New York Rangers can remain winless, that's rather unlikely so let's just hope they remain in fifth. Moving on, please continue after the jump to see how each team in the Atlantic did last week and what's coming up for them in this week.

Let me provide this caveat: the "last" week here only counts for this past week. I didn't include the short three-day week that kicked off the season. Interestingly, this highlights that everything isn't all glitter and gold for the Penguins. (Note: Potential points is for the coming week.)

	Potential Points	Last Week	Conf. Position
PIT	8	1-1-2	2nd
PHI	6	1-0-1	4th
NYI	4	3-0-0	6th
NJD	4	3-0-0	7th
NYR	6	0-1-0	13th

The Penguins had a busy week, they finished up a three-game road trip last Sunday and played three straight at home. As the record indicates, they weren't exactly taking full advantage of the schedule. I didn't see their games against Edmonton or Washington, so I don't know whether they left points on the table or should be pleased they even got a point in those games. Still, it's the sort of thing that can come back and haunt a team in the future. They'll have another busy week with 4 games in 7 days, which includes their first inter-division game of the season as they host the Devils on Saturday.

You know who didn't leave points on the table? The New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils. The Isles took all of the possible points last week, including a nice win over the Rangers. The Devils did the same, though they needed to succeed in the shootout in two of their three wins. That explains why the Islanders are ahead of the Devils in the standings right now. It's a welcome change for the Devils compared to last season. As for the Islanders, they actually started off last season well. The challenge is whether they can sustain it. For now, both teams should enjoy it as they head into a short two-game week.

As for the Philadelphia Flyers, they had a short week and took 3 out of 4 points. An overtime loss prevented them from a second sweep and ownership of the Atlantic Division. Even though they play one fewer game than Pittsburgh, the Flyers could easily take the top spot by next week should the Pens falter. Therefore, I think they should focus on keep doing what they're doing.

The Rangers are one of three winless teams in the NHL as of this writing. Good.

Here's the week ahead for the division - maybe the Rangers will one of their three games? Maybe against one of the two Alberta teams? Maybe?

	10/16	10/17	10/18	10/19	10/20	10/21	10/22
PIT		@ WPG	@ MIN		vs. MTL		vs. NJD
PHI			@ OTT		vs. WSH		vs. STL
NYI					@ TBL		@ FLA
NJD						vs. SJS	@ PIT
NYR			@ VAN		@ CGY		@ EDM

The Flyers faithful who want to see their team leapfrog the Pens should be cheering pretty hard for the Devils among the other three teams they'll play. I think Philadelphia could do it, but it's going to take some "help" from Pittsburgh and that game against the Capitals will be quite difficult on Thursday.

The Devils-Penguins game on Saturday is the lone inter-division game this week. It'll be a tough one for New Jersey as it will kick off a road trip and come right after playing San Jose. If the Devils can at least one of those contests, then that would be fantastic. The short week will hurt them in terms of moving up the standings right away. Though, the Islanders don't have it easy either by going on the road against Tampa Bay and Florida. It's possible that the Devils may swap places with the Isles, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Anyway, what do you think will happen within the Atlantic in the coming week? Please leave your answer in the comments. Thanks for reading.

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Comments

What's with the long break?

Hockey just started and now I have no Devs games to watch for five straight days?

Lame, Mr NHL Scheduling Guy, lame.

Oh well, guess this week I’ll just watch the Philth and Rags and root for the other guys.

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WWTTD?

by SinDonor on Oct 16, 2011 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

I dunno, but the Devils have four straight away games between now and Halloween (including 3 in the Western Conference). Pitt, LA, Phoenix, and Dallas.

So, if the next 5 days gives them a chance to rest up and plan for that, then I’m alright with it!

by Alan Wright on Oct 16, 2011 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions

good point

"Its the letter D"

by Rory B. Bellows on Oct 16, 2011 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Something (or some series of things) going on at the Prudential Center?

by ohms law on Oct 16, 2011 10:17 PM EDT up reply actions

I think the Islanders are the big story out of the division this week, and the huge side-story has got to be John Tavares. His play seems to have risen to a new level with back-to-back four-point games. The Flyers have come out of the gate on fire as we all witnessed in the Devils home opener. Unlike the Penguins who started strong but have come up short lately. And then there’s the Rags. Not much to see there. The Richards-Gaborik combo is as good as everyone expected. As we all expected though the team still sucks.

If this first week is any indication I wouldn’t be surprised if the Atlantic Division returns to it’s glory of sending four out of five teams to the playoffs while also returning to the time-honored tradition of the Rangers being an overpaid joke of a team.

Fourth in the Division isn’t fantastic for the Devils but seventh in the conference is a great start. Four games down, 78 to go!

Come Say Hello! Section 231 - Row 2 - Seat 20

by Alamoth on Oct 16, 2011 1:49 PM EDT reply actions

[blockquote] Fourth in the Division isn’t fantastic…[/blockquote]

Keep in mind that first in the division is only 2 points away, and we have 2 games in hand. Such is the way things go this early in the season.

by SonicJoe on Oct 16, 2011 2:59 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Islanders

If this first week is any indication I wouldn’t be surprised if the Atlantic Division returns to it’s glory of sending four out of five teams to the playoffs while also returning to the time-honored tradition of the Rangers being an overpaid joke of a team.

It’s too early for a prediction like that, but you might be right about the return of the Division.

Congrats to Tavares for notching so many points in a week. But, don’t forget the other Islanders’ story: Rick “Moneybags” DiPietro has been ruled out indefinitely for the Islanders. A concussion, again, just like a few years back

So, DiPietro is injured again. But, doesn’t that open up $ cap space for them when he goes onto LTIR?

Also, the Islanders have played only the Panthers, Wild, Lightning, and Rangers. Not exactly powerhouses.

by Alan Wright on Oct 16, 2011 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions

The Isles have over $15M in cap space without RDP on LTIR. Cap space is not a problem on LI.

Go Devils
Go Jets
Need to lose weight?

by FrankG929 on Oct 16, 2011 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions

It could be if putting him LTIR puts them below the floor…

by SonicJoe on Oct 16, 2011 4:57 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

It doesn’t. Placing a player on LTIR allows a team to go over the cap by the amount of his salary, but the cap hit stays on their running tab for the season. It’s not an issue for teams at the floor

by dr(d)evil on Oct 16, 2011 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions

These CBA rules are crazy…

by SonicJoe on Oct 17, 2011 7:08 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

It makes a long time that I’m more worried by the Isles than the Rangers for this year. Islanders had a great 2nd half of season, almost as good as ours, and even if they’re not that great statically speaking, they’re a young team, they’ve got talent and they believe in themselves. Their real concern is goaltending, but Nabokov could be the answer.

"It's magic, it's tragic, it's a loss, it's a win"

by Elektrostal_Kid on Oct 16, 2011 2:40 PM EDT reply actions

I was watching the highlights and Nabby looked kinda good. Hopefully this is just the “new team motivation” that players get when they join a new team. They have really strong starts but then they die down.

by Devils1192 on Oct 16, 2011 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions

It’s a long, long season. The Atlantic looks very strong this year regardless of how the teams have started, it’s too early to be watching the standings so closely. The Rangers will bounce back but I think the Isles will surprise and end up ahead of them, and all five teams will be in the playoff hunt (though for all five to actually make it is extraordinarily unlikely).

by dr(d)evil on Oct 16, 2011 4:49 PM EDT reply actions

Rolston

The one thing I’m pissed about is that I was watching the highlights for the Islanders game last night when Tavares got the hat-trick. Just like we did, NYI is using Rolston at the point on the PP. When he was pressured with the puck at the point, he kept the puck in the zone with ease. How come he never did that with us? Teams got a lot of shorthanded breakaways because Rolston couldn’t keep it in, but now he seems 10x better at it than before.

by Devils1192 on Oct 16, 2011 5:17 PM EDT reply actions