Ok, so we gotta go back to the regular season. Did anyone notice the regular season game taking place on the 10th of april between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings? If not, lets take a look at it...
Detroit was fighting for the playoffs spot, BUT THEY DID NOT want to face Pittsburgh, they wanted to face Boston Bruins instead. So they wanted to finish as Wildcard #2 rather than Wildcard #1 so that they would have to go up against the Pittsburgh Penguins and not the Bruins. Pittsburgh Penguins would be HAPPY with this, as this would mean Penguins would have to go up against the CBJ, a team that Penguins have swept 5-0 in the season series! So lets look at what they wanted to happen and what happened:
- Pittsburgh wanted to face CBJ (Because they beat them 5-0)
- Detroit wanted to make it to the playoffs (Which is obvious, isnt it?)
- Detroit wanted to face Boston rather than Penguins (Because they beat them 3-1 in the season series)
Ok, so lets take a look at what had to happen in order for this to work out.
- Detroit Red Wings HAD to grab a point here in order to clinch the playoffs so this was ESSENTIAL that they got the game to OT.
- BUT, they had to make EXACTLY 1 point, because IF they won the game here they would finish ahead of CBJ and thus facing Penguins instead of Bruins, and then they would be dependant on CBJ to win games, and then things would be out of Detroits hands!
So, THE ONLY outcome that could make all 3 things happen:
- Detroit in playoff
- Pittsburgh to face CBJ (could happen if CBJ won their games too, but then both Pittsburgh and Detroit would rely on CBJ to win, not something they could do anything about themselves
- Detroit Red Wings to face Boston
Was IF Pittsburgh Penguins won the game in OVERTIME. And you are right... That is what happened. Penguins won this game "Miraculously" in overtime, funny, huh?
So lets look what would have happened with any other outcome:
Pittsburgh win in regulation = Detroit not guaranteed to make it to the playoffs
Detroit win in regulation = This would most likely mean that Detroit would have to face Pittsburgh, something that both Pittsburgh and Detroit wouldnt want to happen.
Detroit win in overtime = This would most likely mean that Detroit would have to face Pittsburgh, something that both Pittsburgh and Detroit wouldnt want to happen.
Now, because of the way things turned out (coincidence or not) both Penguins and Red Wings got what they wanted, you couldnt find a way to improve both of these teams chances of making it to the second round of the playoffs than what just happened here.
It may just be a coincidence, you decide. I just find it funny how the only possible outcome to put Detroit in the best spot as possible happened here, so many things had to work out to make this specific thing happen.
And as you can see, both CBJ and Detroit ended up with 93 points, so if Detroit had won this particular game then they would have finished ahead of CBJ and thus faced Penguins instead. Now, both Penguins and Detroit have chances of making it through, they wouldnt have had if they went toe to toe this early, then it would kill 1 of them. Now, Detroits and Pittsburghs 1st round chances are greater than what they couldve imagined and now both actually have a legit shot at making it through...