Well, some might say that Pittsburgh's thrashing of Winnipeg Jets in the East was action. Malkin collected 5 points, Crosby and Neal 4 each. Total score of 8-4 would point to action-packed game.
What I'm talking about is the action on the playoff bubble. Jets had their chance - if playing the hottest team in the league can be considered as a chance - to catch up Capitals and Sabres a bit, but fell short.
In the West then, there sure was lot up for grabs. And just as I predicted, quite a few three point totals were divided between the teams involved. Calgary and Phoenix got one each for reaching overtime and thus managed to stay somewhat close to the winners of Tuesday night. Colorado, Dallas and Los Angeles all picked up two points and now occupy all the playoff spots in the Western bubble. With seven or eight wins each in the last ten games, this sure looks like the trio that has the derermination needed to make it to the postseason. Dallas has the best of it, being a divisional leader and sitting on the third seed. For now, that is.
The only one in the mix who had nothing to take home from this was again San Jose Sharks. They have now used the quota of games in hand and sit on the tenth spot in the conference, out of the playoffs as of now. The Sharks' recent play has been terrible and if they can't come up with a gutsy finish in the likes of seven wins in the last nine, they might find themselves with an early summer vacation.
On the player front in these Western contenders there's a few names to point out. Dallas' top line of Ribeiro, Eriksson and Ryder have been absolutely on fire and contienue to carry their team towards the division crown. Kings' Anze Kopitar keeps on providing the offensive punch needed for the low scoring team, complementing season long stellar play of goalie Jonathan Quick. In the negatives, Calgary's Olli Jokinen has lost his production completely with no points in the last five games. Coincidentally, Flames' hot streak has ended with Olli's slump. Phoenix Coyotes' captain Shane Doan seems to have lost his composure. Known as a tough but fair opponent, he seems to have crossed the line to dirty. He was just recently fined for boarding and is likely looking at a suspension after reckless elbow to Dallas' Jamie Benn last night.
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