- Associated Press
Familiarity breeds respect among NHL East playoff teams
Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper took exception to the Columbus Blue Jackets being referred to as “a blue-collar” team. “Is that a positive or a negative?” Cooper said Monday, a day before his Eastern Conference second-seeded Lightning open the first round of the NHL playoffs against the seventh-seeded Blue Jackets.
NHL Metropolitan Table
| GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69 | 41 | 20 | 8 | 90 | |
| 69 | 41 | 21 | 7 | 89 | |
| 69 | 40 | 23 | 6 | 86 | |
| 68 | 38 | 25 | 5 | 81 | |
| 70 | 33 | 22 | 15 | 81 | |
| 68 | 35 | 23 | 10 | 80 | |
| 70 | 37 | 28 | 5 | 79 | |
| 69 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 68 |
- x
- - Clinched Playoff Spot