Week 12 Preview - Battle For Playoff Spots

• Top 4 teams in each division make the playoffs; 1vs4 / 2vs3 1st Round
• All playoff rounds are Best-of-5
• First tiebreaker is goal differential; Second is head to head record; Third is strength of schedule

Wk 12: Boston at Buffalo / Montreal at Quebec / Cleveland at Hartford

• Sabres and Bruins battle for 1st in Buffalo; winner avoids Canadiens in 1st Rd - provided Montreal doesn't lose by 7 in Quebec - which is highly unlikely.
• The Barons win any tiebreaker with the Nordiques; as if they finish in a tie they will at least finish in a tie in goal differential and the Barons won their matchup. So the Barons need to earn one more point than Quebec to takeover the 4th and final playoff spot

 

Wk 12: New Jersey at Pittsburgh; NY Islanders at NY Rangers; Philadelphia at Washington

Presuming there are no 7+ goal margins in these games the following is true:

• A Penguins win ensures it's a Penguins-Rangers 1 vs 4 matchup in the 1st Rd; as the Devils need to gain a point on the Rangers to make the playoffs
• A Penguins tie and Islanders win means the Islanders win the division
• A Penguins loss opens it up to the Capitals as well who would win a tiebreaker over Pit OR Nyi
• The Flyers are mathematically alive but really have no chance here

Wk 12: Chicago at St. Louis; Minnesota at Toronto; Atlanta at Detroit

• The Blues take 1st with a win
• A Blues tie or loss opens door for the North Stars; if the teams finish tied in both wins and goal differential they also tied 6-6 in their head to head matchup - so strength of schedule would be the determining factor. Calculated only if necessary.
• The Red Wings are locked into 3rd and Maple Leafs locked into 4th 
• The Firebirds have one more shot at avoiding the embarrassment of being skunked on the season 

Wk 12: Winnipeg at Calgary; Edmonton at Colorado; Los Angeles at Vancouver

• The Jets and Oilers are locked into 1st and 2nd
• With their goal differential gap the Flames clinch 3rd with a win or tie; or a loss and an L.A. tie or loss
• The Kings clinch a playoff spot with a victory
• If LA-VAN ties and the Rockies win, the Rockies make the playoffs - as they would at worst tie the Kings in goal differential and the Rockies won the head to head match. The Rockies also make the playoffs with a win and a Kings loss
• The Canucks make the playoffs with a win and a Rockies loss or tie  

Lineups for Week 12: The Sabres could have trouble slowing down Pederson, Middleton and Bourque with Mike Ramsey out of the lineup. The Barons playoff hopes take a hit with Dennis Maruk on the sidelines. Here's a full list of Week 12 lineups.