Weekly Metropolitan Division Snapshot: 2/5 - 2/11

With the All-Star break firmly in the rear view mirror, it was a busy week in Metropolitan Division action. Washington continued to separate themselves as the top team in the division while Columbus and Pittsburgh remain entrenched in a battle for the second spot. The Rangers are still comfortably in the fourth spot with some distance between them and Philadelphia. Carolina, the Islanders, and New Jersey continue to fight for position at the bottom of the division.

First, let's focus on the top 3 teams. Washington fell to the Islanders 3-2 on Tuesday, defeated Boston 5-3 on Wednesday, and capped off the week with a 3-2 win over Montreal on Saturday. Columbus defeated the Rangers 6-4 on Tuesday, fell in overtime 4-3 to Pittsburgh on Friday, and lost 5-1 to New Jersey on Saturday. Pittsburgh defeated Nashville 4-2 on Tuesday, had the aforementioned win over Columbus on Friday, and defeated St. Louis on Saturday.

Now let's move on to the two teams in the middle of the division. The Rangers lost 6-4 on Tuesday to Columbus and defeated Buffalo 2-1 in overtime on Thursday. Philadelphia lost 5-1 to Carolina on Tuesday, defeated Montreal 3-1 on Thursday, and lost 1-0 in overtime to Los Angeles on Saturday.

Now on to the bottom 3 teams. Carolina defeated Philadelphia 5-1 on Tuesday, beat Edmonton 2-1 on Friday, and capped off a strong week with a 5-4 win in overtime on Saturday against the Islanders. Speaking of the Islanders they defeated Washington 3-2 on Tuesday, fell to Detroit 5-4 on Friday, and lost the aforementioned game to Carolina on Saturday. Our New Jersey Devils had a solid week defeating Detroit 4-3 on Tuesday, losing to Calgary 4-3 in overtime on Friday, and defeating Columbus 5-1 on Saturday.

Here is the upcoming schedule of games; all games within the division are in bold.

On Sunday, Washington will take on Los Angeles while the Rangers hosts Calgary in a relatively quiet day for the teams in the Metro.

Action picks up on Monday with Philadelphia playing St. Louis, the Islanders taking on Toronto, and our Devils playing their only game of the week against Buffalo.

Tuesday is also a busy day as Washington and Carolina square off in a divisional matchup while Columbus goes to Detroit, Pittsburgh hosts Calgary, and the Rangers take on Anaheim. Everyone in the division has Wednesday off.

On Thursday, Philadelphia and the Islanders meet in divisional play, Washington takes on Detroit, Columbus hosts Vancouver, Pittsburgh travels to Colorado, and the Rangers play Nashville. Everyone has Friday off.

Saturday is another busy day as Washington takes on Anaheim, Columbus plays Detroit, Pittsburgh goes to Arizona, the Rangers play Colorado, Philadelphia takes on San Jose, Carolina travels to Dallas, and the Islanders go to Ottawa.

That was what happened in the Metropolitan Division and a brief look at what's ahead for next week. How do you think the standings will look next Sunday? What games are you looking forward to? What are your thoughts on anything that has to do with these 8 teams? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!