We know, thanks to BtN, that the final 35 games of the regular season have the most predictive value with regard to first round playoff performance. Thanks to shrpsports.com, we also know that 35 games ago takes us more or less back to January 18, 2011. With that in mind, who's hot and who's not? Who scares us as a playoff opponent, and who doesn't worry us? After the jump, the current top 9 teams (8 playoff teams plus the Rangers) , sorted by points percentage based on games since January 18, 2011.
| Team | W | L | OT |
| Philadelphia | 30 | 11 | 5 |
| Pittsburgh | 29 | 14 | 4 |
| Tampa Bay | 27 | 15 | 5 |
| Boston | 26 | 13 | 7 |
| Washington | 25 | 14 | 8 |
| Montreal | 26 | 17 | 4 |
| NY Rangers | 26 | 18 | 3 |
| Carolina | 22 | 18 | 6 |
| Buffalo | 20 | 20 | 5 |
And the performance since then:
| Team | W | L | OT | GP | PTS | PCT |
| Washington | 23 | 8 | 3 | 34 | 49 | 0.721 |
| Buffalo | 22 | 9 | 5 | 36 | 49 | 0.681 |
| Pittsburgh | 19 | 11 | 4 | 34 | 42 | 0.618 |
| Tampa Bay | 18 | 10 | 6 | 34 | 42 | 0.618 |
| Boston | 19 | 11 | 4 | 34 | 42 | 0.618 |
| Carolina | 18 | 12 | 5 | 35 | 41 | 0.586 |
| Montreal | 17 | 13 | 4 | 34 | 38 | 0.559 |
| Philadelphia | 16 | 12 | 7 | 35 | 39 | 0.557 |
| NY Rangers | 17 | 15 | 2 | 34 | 36 | 0.529 |
Conclusions: Buffalo in particular looks dangerous to me, based on limited viewing plus their performance here. New York, their blowout victories over the Caps notwithstanding, should not scare us. Philadelphia fans should be very worried. And of course, the Caps look as dangerous on paper as they do on the ice. Join me in embracing this novel feeling called "confidence".
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