Ottawa beating Tampa was nice, but its also just a reminder that we aren't going to have an easy opponent regardless of who we play. Maurice's quote about, you have to beat a team from Florida and a team from Ontario was an accurate one. Although of the teams I would still much rather play Ottawa than Tampa/Florida first.
Ottawa 11-6-2 (.631 PT%) since the 4Nations tournament. But the breakdown of their record
Wins: San Jose, Chicago (OT), New York R (OT), Detroit, Philly, Boston, Toronto, New Jersey, Detroit, Columbus, Tampa
Losses: Montreal x2, Winnipeg, Colorado, Buffalo x2
OTL: Washington, Pittsburgh
Not exactly the most impressive breakdown of wins. They are taking care of business but in contrast the Leafs are 13-5-2 since the break and we have been critical of the teams performance despite putting up better results.
Ottawa could absolute beat the pants off the Leafs but so could Tampa or Florida. I'll take guaranteed home ice in the first round (potentially the second round) and the team that is 10 points back in the standings.