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NHL Odds – Pro Sports’ Longest Playoff Streak in Jeopardy

Eric Thompson

by Eric Thompson in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

The last time the Detroit Red Wings missed the NHL playoffs, the Soviet Union still existed. Since then, their postseason run has spanned six head coaches, three captains, two different Bush presidencies, and nearly the entire run of the Simpsons. But after 24 years of playoff participation, the longest active streak of excellence in all of professional sports is in doubt with just two weeks remaining in the 2015-16 season.

The Red Wings largely have the Philadelphia Flyers to thank for the uneasy feeling in the pit of their stomachs. Detroit was nine points clear of Philly on Feb. 15, comfortably in second in the Atlantic Division. But an untimely backslide coupled with a hot month from the Flyers means the teams will be in a dogfight down the stretch. While the winner of this race will likely draw the dominant Washington Capitals in the first round, it’s the preservation of the streak that interests outsiders the most.

So will the Red Wings hit the quarter-century mark this year? Here are our odds.

Odds to finish outside of the NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs:

  • Philadelphia Flyers: 11/10
  • Detroit Red Wings: 8/5
  • Boston Bruins: 6/1

Neither team has a gauntlet of a schedule down the stretch, mostly playing teams out of the playoff race or locked into their respective seed. The Flyers have an edge with a game in hand, but also lost goalie Michal Neuvirth for the remainder of the season, meaning it’s Steve Mason’s show for the final nine games. Winning with your backup is a daunting enough task, but the Flyers also close the year with three-straight sets of back-to-back games, which means AHLer Anthony Stolarz will likely see some action.

Philly has the advantage in tiebreakers at least. While the first tiebreaker (regulation and OT wins) is still too close to call, the Flyers already won the first two meetings with the Wings, which gives them the second tiebreaker, regardless of what happens in their final meeting. But that Apr. 6 game at Joe Louis Arena will go a long way in deciding who sneaks in. So not only does it help the Wings that they’ll be at home and have two healthy goalies, but the amount of veteran experience on the team has to be of comfort to new coach Jeff Blashill.

Of course, there’s still a scenario where both these teams qualify and the Boston Bruins end up on the outside looking in. The B’s are on a bad run and close with some formidable opponents, like St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit; but getting passed by two teams in the final two weeks would be a truly epic collapse. Then again, they achieved a pretty epic collapse last season.

(Photo Credit: kpkelly53 (Originally uploaded to Flickr)[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/].)

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