With seven weeks left in the NHL regular season, it’s a virtual dead heat in the Southeast Division between Atlanta, Carolina, Florida and Washington, with Tampa Bay trailing by just a few points with games in hand.

“We’ve got to win games,” said Carolina coach Peter Laviolette. “There is no sugar coating it. We put it up on the board how many wins we’re going to need and where we need to get them. If you flounder down the stretch, if you play .500 hockey, you will not be playing in the playoffs in the Southeast Division. You have to play much better than that.”

Atlanta, Carolina and Tampa Bay have won the Southeast the last three seasons. Is it time for Florida or Washington to upset that trio?

The Hurricanes won the Southeast, when it was a four-team division, in 1999 with just 86 points. Since then, the division-winning point totals have been 102, 96, 91, 93, 106, 112 and 97. The average of the winners is 97.8 points. One thing is certain: the Southeast winner will likely be closer to 90 points than 100 since none of the teams have strung together a winning streak greater than five games all season.

Following is a breakdown of the pros and cons of each team down the stretch and my predicted order of finish in the Southeast:

Atlanta Thrashers
Pros: Scoring balance (eight players with 10 or more goals); Clutch in close games (rank No. 1 in NHL in one-goal winning percentage at 15-4-4 and 13-0-4 in OT games, No. 2 in shoot-out wins with five); top veterans in Recchi, Holik, Kozlov (combined 53 NHL seasons).
Cons: Mediocre special teams; Waddell could lose the room if he deals Hossa before the Feb. 26 trade deadline; Waddell serving as GM/coach (talk about spreading yourself thin); weak defense.      

Carolina Hurricanes
Pros: Top offense in division with All-Star MVP Staal, Brind’Amour, Cole and Whitney; Rutherford named GM of the year twice in last five seasons (watch out over the next 10 days); acquisition of Samsonov (12 points in 15 games); Corvo, Eaves; Favorable schedule (Canes have played the second-most road games thus far).
Cons: Ranked 30th in penalty killing; Cullen, Williams, LaRose out with injuries; aging defense.   

Florida Panthers
Pros: Best power-play in division at 20.5 percent (fifth in NHL); Vokoun workhorse in net and ranked second-best goalie in shootouts; solid defense.    
Cons: No recent playoff history; sub-.500 home record; Zednik injury (leads team with five GW goals); Lack of scoring balance.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Pros: Under the radar all season could help; Lecavalier and St. Louis dangerous duo; Above average power play; Been there before.     
Cons: Shaky goaltending; no scoring depth (just four players with more 30 points); ground to make up; poor penalty kill; worst road record in Eastern Conference; poor record in one-goal games.    

Washington Capitals
Pros: Ovechkin, Ovechkin and Ovechkin (most dynamic player in NHL can turn game in Caps favor with flick of a wrist); league’s top rookie in Backstrom; Good in OT (8-3-3); Least penalized team in Southeast (sixth in NHL). 
Cons: Rookie coach hasn’t been through NHL pressure cooker; Average power play; Allow too many goals allowed (Kolzig GAA is 3.01, worst among Southeast starters); Nylander injury.  

Predicted Order of Finish (2-14-08)
1.    Carolina
2.    Washington
3.    Tampa Bay
4.    Atlanta
5.    Florida

Predicted Order of Finish (10-3-07)
1.    Carolina
2.    Washington
3.    Tampa Bay
4.    Florida
5.    Atlanta