Phantoms' Playoff Hopes Dwindling In Atlantic Division

The Phantoms have their work cut out for themselves heading down the stretch. Photo: Nina Weiss/

It's no secret the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (27-28-3-3) have dug themselves into a hole in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Not only are the Phantoms tied for 6th place in the Atlantic Division, but every team they are chasing has played fewer games than they do entering this weekend's games.

According to SportsClubStats.com, the Phantoms currently have a 12.2% chance of making the playoffs.

For simplicity's sake, the top four teams in the Eastern Conference - Toronto and Albany in the North Division and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Hershey in the Atlantic Division - are just about sure locks for the postseason at this point.

It's also looking more and more likely that the Atlantic Division is going to have five playoff teams with their fifth place finisher crossing over as the 4th seed in the North Division. Currently the fifth place team in the Atlantic, Bridgeport (.576 winning percentage), has the final playoff spot with four place in the North, Rochester (.518 winning percentage), trailing by a considerable margin.

Both Hartford and Lehigh Valley trail Bridgeport by eight points. The Phantoms have also played two more games than the Sound Tigers. Here's a quick look at the Atlantic Division standings entering the weekend:

Atlantic Division Standings (through 3/10's games)

1. Hershey: 60 games played, 34-16-3-7 = 78 points (.650 PCT)
2. W-B/Scranton: 60 games played, 36-19-4-1 = 77 points (.642 PCT)

3. Providence: 58 games played, 29-18-9-2 = 69 points (.595 PCT)
4. Portland: 57 games played, 31-22-3-1 = 66 points (.579 PCT)
5. Bridgeport: 59 games played, 31-22-3-3 = 68 points (.576 PCT)
6. Hartford: 58 games played, 29-27-2-0 = 60 points (.517 PCT)
7. Lehigh Valley: 61 games played, 27-28-3-3 = 60 points (.492 PCT)
8. Springfield: 58 games played, 21-30-3-4 = 49 points (.422 PCT)

Weekend Schedule (Eastern Conference)

Friday 3/11

Toronto at Portland - 7:00 p.m. ET
Bridgeport at Syracuse - 7:00 p.m. ET
Albany at Binghamton - 7:05 p.m. ET
Hartford at Providence - 7:05 p.m. ET
Utica at Rochester - 7:05 p.m. ET

Saturday 3/12

Lehigh Valley at Hartford - 3:00 p.m. ET
Utica at Albany - 5:00 p.m. ET
Hershey at St. John's - 6:00 p.m. ET
Portland at Springfield - 7:00 p.m. ET
Rochester at Syracuse - 7:00 p.m. ET
Toronto at Providence - 7:05 p.m. ET
Bridgeport at W-B/Scranton - 7:05 p.m. ET

Sunday 3/13

Hershey at St. John's - 2:30 p.m. ET
Toronto at Albany - 3:00 p.m. ET
Hartford at Portland - 3:00 p.m. ET
Utica at Providence - 3:05 p.m. ET
W-B/Scranton at Bridgeport - 5:00 p.m. ET
Syracuse at Springfield - 5:00 p.m. ET
Binghamton at Rochester - 5:05 p.m. ET

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The following is the remaining schedule matrices for the teams in the Atlantic Division playoff race.

3rd Place Providence - 69 points (.595 PCT)
18 games remaining (8 home, 10 road)

3 - Portland (2 home, 1 road)
2 - Toronto (1 home, 1 road)
2 - Hartford (1 home, 1 road)
2 - W-B/Scranton (0 home, 2 road)
2 - Hershey (2 home, 0 road)
2 - Springfield (1 home, 1 road)
1 - Bridgeport (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Utica (1 home, 0 road)
1 - Albany (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Rochester (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Lehigh Valley (0 home, 1 road)

Thoughts: The PBruins have a tough remaining schedule with 7 of their remaining 18 games against the top four teams in the conference (Toronto, Hershey, W-B/Scranton and Albany). Three games against Portland, two against Hartford and one each against Bridgeport, Utica, Rochester and Lehigh Valley leave them with just two of their remaining 18 games against teams not currently in the playoff race.

4th Place: Portland - 66 points (.579 PCT)
19 games remaining (9 home, 10 road)

5 - Springfield (2 home, 3 road)
4 - Hartford (2 home, 2 road)
4 - Bridgeport (2 home, 2 road)
3 - Providence (1 home, 2 road)
1 - Lehigh Valley (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Toronto (1 home, 0 road)
1 - W-B/Scranton (1 home, 0 road)

Thoughts: Portland has the easiest remaining schedule to get into the postseason. Not only do they have games in hand on everyone in the division, but five of their remaining 19 games are against the last place team in the entire Eastern Conference in the Springfield Falcons. Four each against Hartford and Bridgeport and three against Providence will be tough but the results of those 10 games will shape the playoff picture.

5th Place: Bridgeport - 68 points (.576 PCT)
17 games remaining (7 home, 10 road)

4 - Portland Pirates (2 home, 2 road)
3 - W-B/Scranton (1 home, 2 road)
2 - Albany Devils (1 home, 1 road)
2 - Springfield (1 home, 1 road)
2 - Lehigh Valley (1 home, 1 road)
1 - Syracuse (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Hartford (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Providence (1 home, 0 road)
1 - Hershey (0 home, 1 road)

Thoughts: Bridgeport has their work cut out for themselves to maintain the final playoff spot in the conference, with six games left against 'The Big Four' in addition to four games against the Portland Pirates.

6th Place Hartford - 60 points (.517 PCT)
18 games remaining (8 home, 10 road)

4 - Portland (2 home, 2 road)
4 - Springfield (2 home, 2 road)
2 - Providence (1 home, 1 road)
2 - Lehigh Valley (1 home, 1 road)
2 - St. John's (0 home, 2 road)
1 - Bridgeport (1 home, 0 road)
1 - Albany (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Toronto (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Hershey (1 home, 0 road)

Thoughts: Hartford faces a tall task to catch the final playoff spot, but can make things interesting by taking care of business with their four remaining meetings against Springfield. It might come down to the final weekend of the season for the Wolf Pack, and they finish with two games in St. John's against an IceCaps team that will either be fighting for their own playoff lives or out of contention.

7th Place Lehigh Valley - 60 points (.492 PCT)
15 games remaining (7 home, 8 road)

2 - Hartford (1 home, 1 road)
2 - Hershey (1 home, 1 road)
2 - W-B/Scranton (1 home, 1 road)
2 - St. John's (0 home, 2 road)
2 - Bridgeport (1 home, 1 road)
1 - Providence (1 home, 0 road)
1 - Rochester (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Toronto (0 home, 1 road)
1 - Portland (1 home, 0 road)
1 - Syracuse (1 home, 0 road)

Thoughts: It's going to take a lot for the Phantoms to make a comeback and sneak into the postseason. The two games against Hartford as well as the two against Bridgeport are extremely important, but they are going to need some help from teams like Springfield who play the Atlantic Division teams ahead of the Phantoms. Never say never until they're mathematically eliminated, but the writing is on the wall.