Let's start here in the West...
The Red Wings can clinch the Western Conference with a win in Chicago tonight. However, the fate for the President's Trophy is not in their hands heading into the evening. The Wings will want to clinch the West for home-ice advantage through the Conference rounds of the playoffs and have a chance at home-ice in the Finals. Their likely opponent in the first round will be Minnesota if they slump or Calgary if they trip over their own two feet at the line.
With the Ducks playing last night against San Jose, they will await the result of a couple games. They cannot fall out of second place tonight, but they may be able to inch a bit closer to Detroit if they lose. Who Detroit doesn't face will be Anaheim's likely opponent in the first round.
A Canucks win over the Avalanche will do two things tonight. It will guarantee a playoff spot for the Flames and it will win them the division title. The Avs will come out desperate tonight and since the Canucks have a 3-point cushion on the Wild, it would seem to me that it might not be the Canucks' night tonight. That's not at all what I'm hoping for, but I wouldn't be surprised either. The Canucks likely opponent will be from the Pacific Division, either Dallas or San Jose.
Nashville can get a stranglehold on 4th place tonight with a win against St. Louis at home tonight. The Preds would prefer home-ice if they are to get either Dallas or San Jose in the first round. The idea of spending one extra game in Big D or the Shark Tank should be enough motivation to make quick work of the Blues tonight.
A Predator regulation loss and a Sharks win would vault the Sharks into fourth place in the West tonight. The Flames with their own fate in their hands could just beat the Sharks for the last spot in the West... or... they can scoreboard watch the Canucks & Avs game and take the night off... until they feel they need to win. The Flames are on the road, so they might be scoreboard watching anyways.
The sixth place Stars are idle tonight. They'll face the Ducks tomorrow night, which should be a gooder for position. The Stars cannot drop any lower tonight, because Minnesota would lose the tie-breakers if they were to win tonight.
Speaking of the Wild, they have the opportunity to put an easy two points between them and the Flames tonight with a game against the Oilers. That's the only thing the Wild can do tonight is pad their lead over Calgary. They can't pass Dallas and they can't catch Vancouver... so they're just playing to keep seventh.
And that's the West picture for tonight.
If you read last night's post, you'll know the deal with the remaining playoff spots in the East. So, I won't go back into that here. I'll just get you up-to-date on where the East may finish up tonight.
The Sabres have already clinched the East... meaning home-ice throughout the Eastside rounds. They have a game in hand over Detroit for the President's Trophy. They play Boston tonight to keep up their chances for home-ice throughout. Got it? Good. The Bruins have been out for quite a while. Nothing doing there.
The Devils can clinch the Atlantic Division title tonight with a win in Philly. They'll move too far for the Penguins to catch them and second in the East will be theirs. Still no idea who their potential first round opponent will be. Your guess is as good as mine.
Atlanta failed to pad their lead in the Southeast last night, but fortunately have a free night to worry about their rivals gaining any ground on them. Their only chance of moving down the Standings will be if Tampa Bay can catch them. That won't transpire until tomorrow night. The Thrashers will be in Raleigh to face the Hurricanes tomorrow, a team with nothing to lose.
Finally! A real game tonight. A game where teams are actually battling against each other, both on the ice and in the standings. It's kind of epic, really. The Penguins can put themselves in a situation where fourth is attainable, but the Senators still have the upper hand with tie-breakers. A battle for home-ice advantage... a preview of the first round... this game will shape up to be the start of something wonderful. A hockey fan's dream. If the Canucks weren't playing tonight, I would be most excited to watch this one. If the Penguins win in regulation tonight, they will tie the Senators with points, but still be fifth on total wins. If the Senators get their two points, they will clinch fourth place in the East. It's as simple as that.
That's about all the seeding information I can do today... with the five teams still battling for playoff spots, it could potentially be all done in the East tonight. Then your playoff pool teams can be easily selected and submitted right away.
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