2011 NHL Playoff Projections - 82 Games Played

A general rule of thumb for the NHL playoffs is to expect the unexpected. Though division winners typically win the Stanley Cup, top seeded teams are no stranger to first round playoff upsets.

Appreciating that the best predictor of future behavior is typically past performance, the chart below tracks teams over the second half of the 2011 NHL regular season examining their 10, 20 and 41 game records to measure where momentum lies heading into this postseason.

Team Performance Heading Into 2011 NHL Playoffs
EAST
	Final			10 GP		20 GP			41 GP
Team	W	Pts		W	Pts	W	Pts		W	Pts
1. WAS	48	107		7	15	16	33		25	55
2. PHI	47	106		3	9	7	20		21	49
3. BOS	46	103		6	13	10	24		24	52
4. PIT	49	106		8	16	13	28		23	51
5. TBL	46	103		7	14	9	22		22	50
6. MTL	44	96		5	11	12	25		22	49
7. BUF	43	96		8	17	13	29		25	55
8. NYR	44	93		6	13	12	25		21	44
WEST
	Final		10 GP			20 GP		41 GP
Team	W	Pts	W		Pts	W	Pts	W		Pts
1. VAN	54	117	7		14	15	30	27		57
2. SJS	48	105	7		15	13	29	27		58
3. DET	47	104	4		10	9	22	21		47
4. ANA	47	99	7		14	15	30	27		55
5. NAS	44	99	7		15	13	29	22		49
6. PHO	43	99	5		12	10	24	24		52
7. LAK	46	98	6		12	11	24	23		51
8. CHI	44	97	5		11	11	25	23		52

San Jose, Vancouver and Anaheim bested the West with 27 wins from the season's midpoint with Nashville keeping pace with the threesome over the final 10 games. Interestingly, Detroit was the weakest team at each interval over the second half of the regular season.

In the East, Washington led over the final 41 and 20 game stretch, with Pittsburgh and Buffalo dominating during the last 10 games. At the other end, New York had the worst second half and Philadelphia posted the fewest points over the final 20 and 10 game periods.

In terms of streaks, Pittsburgh and Buffalo enter the playoffs with four straight wins and Los Angeles lost the final two games of the season.

To sum up, Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim, Nashville, Washington, Buffalo and Pittsburgh are all hot heading into the playoffs while Philadelphia and Detroit are not. Of course, none of these statistics matter when the puck drops tonight on the 2011 NHL playoffs.

Let the second season begin.