by Mike Haim

By the end of this weekend, every NHL team will have played at least 20 games, about one-quarter of the 82-game season. While it may be intriguing to assess how things are starting to shake out for the Sabres and their Northeast Division counterparts, the reality is that the actual race so far is for a mere playoff spot.

Buffalo entered Wednesday’s action with 25 points and a slim four-point division lead over second-place Ottawa and only a five-point edge over Boston and Montreal. The Senators, however, ranked 10th in the Eastern Conference, which makes the Sabres the only team in their division to currently hold a playoff position.

Perhaps it’s not so much a matter of the Northeast Division being weak as much as the Atlantic Division having an incredible amount of balance with some more games played.

Along the eastern seaboard, New Jersey and Pittsburgh were tied for their division lead with 28 points, while Philadelphia and the two New York teams were all five points back. All five clubs are on the inside track for playoff berths. The Rangers and the Islanders, however, have played three more games than Ottawa (who is two points behind them) and four more than Buffalo.

Looking at the entire conference, only three teams – Florida, Carolina, and Toronto – have fewer than 20 points. The remaining 12 are separated by eight points.

Buffalo may understandably look to this weekend’s games against Boston and Ottawa as keys to taking a healthy lead in the division. Keep in mind, though, that it will be the relatively underappreciated games against teams like Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and the Islanders which may ultimately decide who in the Northeast - outside of the division winner - goes to the playoffs.

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One of the teams in the thick of the mix in the Eastern Conference, the Florida Panthers, could be energized by a recent shift in their ownership.

Alan Cohen, who owned 43 percent of the franchise, indicated to the NHL that he would no longer pay for losses incurred by the team beyond January 1, 2010. The Panthers have not turned a profit (or made the playoffs) since a group led by Cohen bought the team in 2001. Losses have reportedly reached $20 million per year.

Enter Cliff Viner and Stu Siegel, two businessmen from Boca Raton who are self-described hockey fans. They bought just over half of Cohen’s share and are taking responsibility for the club’s losses.

Viner and Siegel are being viewed as saviors that couldn’t be found in Phoenix, where former Coyotes owner Jerry Moyes was incurring similar losses before declaring his club bankrupt.

Florida is probably the closest thing to “Exhibit B” in any criticism of the NHL’s southward expansion of the 1990s. The Panthers desperately need to win to bring people back to the BankAtlantic Center, but even then it is unproven whether a playoff contender will be enough to make the team viable.

There’s probably a lot of people offering Viner and Siegel congratulations on their transaction, but “good luck” might be more appropriate.

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No one is rushing to anoint the Islanders as legitimate contenders for the Stanley Cup, but something they did last week brought back memories of past champions.

Friday night, the Islanders took a 3-0 lead in the first period against Carolina, marking the third straight game in which the Isles netted three goals in the opening stanza.

That hadn’t happened since March 15, 16, and 18, 1980, the week the team acquired Butch Goring en route to the first of their four straight Stanley Cups.

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