Rangers 3rd Jersey, Having talked about the Playoff Ins and Playoff Outs in the NHL West in the last two articles, today we are making our Rangers 3rd Jersey predictions of who will make the playoffs from the East.
1. Washington Capitals: Sure, they\'ll win the Southeast. That\'s easy. But can Alexander Ovechkin and company have the best record in the East? We think so. They\'ll have easy pickings in their own division, and we expect them to hold their own with everyone else.
2. Pittsburgh Penguins: Sid Crosby will be back, which of course increases their chances to win the East. Plus, they have a solid team and good goaltending. We look for the Penguins to be a major force, no matter where they end up in the regular season.
3. Montreal Canadiens: It\'s so good to see the Canadiens as a force in the NHL. They are improved over last year, but we feel that were over-performing, as indicated by their exit from the playoffs. So, we look for a more realistic finish for Andrei Markov and his cohorts this year.
4. Buffalo Sabres: Goaltending is important. Ryan Miller is very good. But, we don\'t think the Sabres have it to make it to the top during the regular season. Yet we do think they will make the playoffs, based our observations of their relatively steady, if unexciting, play.
5. Boston Bruins: Stanley Cup Champs! How can we pick the Sabres above them? We look for the excitement and energy to be at a lower level this year for the Boston team, and we won\'t be surprised if the Bruins lose in their first playoff series. We\'re going against the flow here, as some Las Vegas odds makers have the Bruins as 3rd or 4th in the NHL this year.
6. New York Rangers: Most feel the Rangers will improve over last year, when they had difficulty with consistency and difficulty in the locker room. Henrik Lundvist and his crew should show some improvement, but it is hard to pick them in the top 4 of the East.
7. Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers are a hard read. They could Rangers 3rd Jersey end up a top 4 team if they gel with all the additions. Jaromir Jagr is a wild card, and how he plays will be quite meaningful for their final positioning. They will definitely make the playoffs, but it is tough to place them, so we\'re basically throwing Rangers 3rd Jersey darts on this one.
8. Tampa Bay Lightning: What happened to Steven Samkos in the second half last year? We hope whatever it was is now behind him. If he gets back to form, we expect the team to make the playoffs.
Next up: Our predictions on who won\'t make the playoffs from the NHL East.
