Playoff race - Mar 31 - Kings of the Pacific

The shuffle continues in the Western conference's final playoff positions. The odd curiosity here is that one of the final spots ends up being Pacific division winner and thus is rewarded the number three seed and home ice advantage for playoffs. There's likely teams ten points ahead in the final standings that have to start with a lower seed. Tough luck, but that's how the rulebook says.

Last night's big winners were Los Angeles Kings, who now hold the Pacific crown and are the team, who has all the keys in their hands for keeping it too. They've played well, but at this point any loss may drop them again to the lower seeds and the brink of elimination. Dallas Stars had to give up the lead in Pacific when they couldn't stay in the pace with ever more dangerous Vancoucer Canucks. At this state, these two would be meeting in the first round, so not the most flattering rehearsal for the Stars.

Colorado Avalanche did what they had to and beat Calgary Flames for what basically ended Flames' pursuit for the playoff spot. The Avs are not much better despite the win, since they've played two more games than the competition and sit outside of the playoff bracket, watching the others rack up possibly even more points to increase the distance. At this point it seems that only the San Jose Sharks have realistic chances for breaking into the playoff position in the West and pushing some other team out. A game tonight against Dallas Stars will set the tone for Sharks' final four games.