Conventional wisdom for a number of years has been that the Western Conference is overall the better half of MLS. But that wisdom may be outdated.
If the Eastern Conference has felt like the better conference so far this season, it's for good reason. East teams lead inter-conference games in 2017 by a 21-13-17 mark altogether.
That point was driven home this week. In a busy stretch that included five midweek games, Eastern Conference teams went 5-1-1 against Western opposition in recent days. Those results include a 4-1 win by the Montreal Impact over the Portland Timbers, two losses by the Colorado Rapids, 3-0 to the Chicago Fire and 2-1 to the Philadelphia Union, Philly's other win this week, 2-0 over the Houston Dynamo, and Atlanta United's4-1 win, also over the Dynamo.
If there is a caveat, all five of the East's wins over the West this week were home wins, with home field advantage continuing to be a significant factor across the league. And two of the aforementioned games featured red cards for the losing side, in the Portland loss and the Rapids' loss in Philadelphia.
Those aren't factors to be ignored outright, but even with that context, it appears the power shift in MLS overall has moved eastward.
