It may not seem like it, but the Blue Jackets actually got some pretty decent help yesterday. Not perfect – that would have required Calgary and Colorado to win – but pretty decent, particularly from LA whooping on Edmonton.
Today’s more of the same: Take care of your own business first, and the rest are relatively minor.
With that in mind, we’re obviously rooting for Columbus to beat Minnesota (ideally in regulation, but a win is a win). Unexpectedly, we’re actually rooting for St. Louis to drop Detroit – the closer we get to the Red Wings in the standings, the more that season series win is going to matter – Dallas over San Jose, Chicago over Nashville, and while Anaheim vs Los Angeles is a bit of a push, the best results for the overall odds are for the Ducks to take this one.
Meanwhile, in the East, the Rangers are having cockroach like success and refusing to go away, but their schedule is about to get more interesting – most of their remaining schedule is against teams either already in playoff position or hanging right around and trying to overtake (Philly, the Islanders, the Devils) and could easily knock them back down the ladder. (They also get some “gimme” games against Florida and the Sabres, but who knows – everyone loves playing spoiler now and then…)
With that said, we’re rooting for New Jersey over Buffalo in OT, Washington over Tampa Bay in OT, and Ottawa over Florida any which way they can.