All your statements support is that there's a bigger differential of talent in the East than in the West. So what, it's not news to me. I know the Southeastern Division is awful, but the Capitals didn't get where they are simply by beating up on every team in that division. Compare this to, say, the Atlantic Division and you'll see half the East's playoff spots accounted for. There was also a MUCH tighter race for seeds 6-8 and 2-4 than in the West (it was practically fair game a little over a week ago) despite the larger first-eighth point differential.
Bigger news: Penguins are 0-4-1 against the Capitals this season and 0-6-0 against the Devils (that's an 18-point swing on the Capitals, 24 point swing on the Devils) while still being the de jure 3rd seed in the East. See either the Capitals or Devils going down early and there's a heavy chance Crosby may be lifting the silver come June. I'm not entirely convinced it won't happen.
EDIT: Just a bit more statistical explanation for the above. Removing those two series from the Penguins' schedule and you've got 100 points over 71 games. Extrapolate this to 82 games and you've got 115 points across a season without playing the Capitals or Devils with only 7 OTL. That's good enough to clinch a division title and have more points than the San Jose Sharks.
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