The Box Seats: Edition Twenty-Seven
Hockey Matchups Recap for the Week of April 8th-14th, 2024
THE BOX SEATS
(Edition Twenty-Seven, Hockey Matchups Recap for the Week of April 8th-14th, 2024.)
Hello, and welcome to “The Box Seats”, a column designed to keep Pro Hockey fans informed, educated and entertained with the news and notes from around the National Hockey League. So kick back, and read along every week during the National Hockey League season.
The Playoff Race in the Eastern Conference is the main storyline as the National Hockey League is just less than two weeks away before the start of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Philadelphia Flyers have gone on a seven-game losing streak, which has now opened up races for both the third place spot in the Metropolitan Division, along with the second and final Wild Card spot in the East.
The Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals and the Flyers are all looking to grab one of those two spots, with the Detroit Red Wings also hanging around with a chance for the last Wild Card spot representing the Atlantic Division.
With every team down to their last handful of games, there will be some spots that will be worth betting on, and other spots to avoid heading into the homestretch. Let’s start things off with a quick rundown in each Conference with the NHL Playoff Standings.
NHL STANDINGS AND PLAYOFF PICTURE (as of EOD April 7th, 2024)
EASTERN CONFERENCE (x-Playoff Berth)
Metropolitan Division
Team Record Points Games Remaining
- x-New York Rangers 53-21-4 110 4 (3 Home/1 Road)
- x-Carolina Hurricanes 49-22-7 105 4 (0 Home/4 Road)
- New York Islanders 35-27-15 85 5 (3 Home/2 Road)
Atlantic Division
- x-Boston Bruins 46-17-15 107 4 (2 Home/2 Road)
- x-Florida Panthers 48-24-5 102 4 (4 Home/0 Road)
- x-Toronto Maple Leafs 44-23-9 97 5 (3 Home/2 Road)
Wild Card (Top Two Advance)
- x-Tampa Bay Lightning 43-27-7 93 5 (4 Home/1 Road)
- Detroit Red Wings 38-31-8 84 5 (3 Home/2 Road)
- Washington Capitals 36-30-11 83 5 (2 Home/3 Road)
- Pittsburgh Penguins 36-30-11 83 5 (3 Home/2 Road)
- Philadelphia Flyers 36-31-11 83 4 (2 Home/2 Road)
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Central Division
Team Record Points Games Remaining
- x-Dallas Stars 49-20-9 107 4 (4 Home/0 Road)
- x-Colorado Avalanche 48-24-6 102 4 (3 Home/1 Road)
- x-Winnipeg Jets 47-24-6 100 5 (2 Home/3 Road)
Pacific Division
- x-Vancouver Canucks 47-22-8 102 5 (3 Home/2 Road)
- x-Edmonton Oilers 47-24-5 99 6 (4 Home/2 Road)
- Los Angeles Kings 41-25-11 93 5 (4 Home/1 Road)
Wild Card (Top Two Advance)
- Nashville Predators 45-29-4 94 4 (2 Home/2 Road)
- Vegas Golden Knights 42-26-8 92 6 (3 Home/3 Road)
Team Trends To Watch For (as of EOD April 7th, 2024)
- Tampa Bay Lightning: 19-5 run to the 1st Period Over in their last 24 NHL games overall.
- Nashville Predators: 16-4 SU last 20 games overall.
- New York Rangers: 24-6 SU last 30 games overall; Set Franchise Record for Most Wins (53) on Sunday.
- Colorado Avalanche: 13-6 SU last 19 games overall.
- Philadelphia Flyers: 0-7 SU last seven games overall
- San Jose Sharks: 3-21 SU last 24 games overall.
- Anaheim Ducks: 2-14 SU last 16 games overall.
NHL FULL SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK:
April 9th
Washington at Detroit 
– 7:00p ET on ESPN
This showdown in the Motor City has big playoff implications in the Eastern Conference for both the Capitals and Red Wings.
Minnesota at Colorado 
– 9:30p ET on ESPN
The Colorado Avalanche look to make a push towards the top of the Central Division as they face-off with their rivals from Minnesota to close the Tuesday ESPN Doubleheader.
April 10th
Vegas at Edmonton 
– 8:30pm ET on TNT/MAX
Two playoff-bound Pacific Division clubs face-off as the Vegas Golden Knights look to defend their Stanley Cup title and the Edmonton Oilers hope to disrupt those plans down the line.
April 13th
NY Islanders at NY Rangers 
– 12:30p ET on ABC/ESPN+
The Battle of New York takes center stage to start off Saturday on ABC as this matinee affair in Manhattan could mean a playoff berth for the Islanders and a Metro Division title and possibly the President’s Trophy for the Rangers.
Seattle at Dallas 
– 3:00p ET on ABC/ESPN+
The Dallas Stars are hoping to wrap up a Central Division title and home-ice in the first round as they host the Seattle Kraken in an afternoon tilt.
Boston at Pittsburgh 
– 8:00p ET on ABC/ESPN+
The Bruins and Penguins close out the ABC tripleheader with a big showdown as Pittsburgh is looking to make it into the playoffs, while the Bruins zero in on an Atlantic Division crown for a second consecutive NHL season.
April 14th
Seattle at St. Louis 
– 1:00p ET on TNT/MAX
The Seattle Kraken get some more national airtime in another afternoon contest as they visit the Gateway City to take on the St. Louis Blues.
Colorado at Vegas – 3:30p ET on TNT/MAX
It’s a Vegas Matinee on Sunday to close out the Hockey Games Recap as the Golden Knights host the Colorado Avalanche to wrap up the doubleheader coverage on TNT.
Frozen Fashion: The Hockey Jersey of The Week
Each Week, we will select one NHL team jersey to highlight the design and the history of that specific sweater. This week, we look at one of the more iconic designs in National Hockey League history
Pittsburgh Penguins 2023-24 Home Black Jersey
When the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise started as part of the “Next Six” in the National Hockey League in 1967, the club wore uniforms that were Light Blue, Dark Blue and White, to reflect the frosty ice colors that would be in the habitat of their animal nickname, the Penguins.
These would be the team’s primary colors until the 1979-1980 Regular Season. With the city reeling off of the NFL’s Steelers capturing another Super Bowl title, combined with the Pirates winning an MLB World Series championship, the Pens decided to get in on the “Black and Yellow” look.
This was originally protested by the Boston Bruins, who have worn Black and Yellow since the 1950’s, and felt they had exclusive claim to the colors, despite starting off wearing Brown for the first several years of existence.
The League allowed Pittsburgh to change their uniforms and on January 30th, 1980, the new look was unveiled, with the skating Penguin logo (which had been around since 1968) as the crest, yellow and black sleeves, and yellow numbers atop the shoulders.
This look lasted well into the 1980s and after the team won back-to-back Stanley Cups, they would be swapped out for a new look with the same colors. Eventually in 2014-2015, they would return to this classic look and design, and it has remained the current home style to this day.
National Hockey League Trivia Question
Last Week: Which National Hockey League arena is located closest to the equator?
Answer: The BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida, USA, is the NHL arena located closest to the equator.
Q: Which National Hockey League team became the first to win the modern-day President’s Trophy?
Hint: It was a team with some big-time Record Breakers
Check Back Next Week for the Answer!
Check out all the updated National Hockey League NHL Scoring Leaders and more right here at Point Spreads.
