Flight for the Cup in the West

East has been picked, and now it's time to look at the crystal ball for the West. Again, I'll be brief, since I have some suspicion that I have to return for some corrections later. Enjoy!

First round in the West. Canucks will take down the Kings, but it will take six games. They have too much firepower for LA and the goalies match evenly. Blues will carry on with their respectable regular season and shut down the Sharks in five. San Jose's inconsistency and exhaustion from the fight for the last playoff spots pave the way. Blackhawks will overpower the Coyotes in five games. These teams are quite similar, but Chicago is a bit better pretty much everywhere. Mike Smith is the best goaltender in this match up but it will not carry the team. Nashville Predators have the perfect opportunity to avenge all the losses in the hands of Detroit Red Wings. And that they will do, beating the banged up and tired Wings in straight four. Pekka Rinne will shut the door and let the four lines grind away the victories.

Second round in the West. Canucks will see their second Presidents' Trophy season end in vain too, this time in the hands of St. Louis Blues. The tight defensive system of the Blues combined with some below the expectations play by the Canucks will result in a Blues victory in six games. Predators will outlast the Blackhawks in seven games. Preds win the defensive games, Hawks will take a few guns blazing. In the end it all comes down to massive difference in goal and Rinne will carry the team to West finals.

Third round in the West. Nashville Predators has ended up with a dream team for their style of play this season. They will fight against somewhat similar style of the Blues and will emerge victorious in six games. They go for the ultimate finals in search for the Stanley Cup but also with a lot on line in regards of keeping their lineup together for the following seasons.

Playoff race - Mar 28 - Two in, one out in the East

The race for the final Eastern conference playoff spots is between three teams, Panthers, Capitals and Sabres. Florida Panthers went for another overtime, and this time came out as the shootout winners. Valuable two points to pad their division lead and steady hold of the high seeded playoff spot and home ice advantage.

The real deal happened in Washington, where visiting Buffalo Sabres stomped over the hosting Capitals with a 5-1 victory. A big part of the result was difference in goaltending, but one can not overlook the troubles in the Caps team. Somehow they haven't been able to really turn the machine on the whole year and this is the last moment to turn things around. They're running out of games to catch the Panthers, unless there's a complete collapse in Florida in the end. Capitals' only possibility is to regain the eighth spot from the Sabres. And comparing these two teams' last weeks of play we can all see it isn't going to be easy. Both teams will have games against some teams that are out already and others against the conference leaders. The grind of remaining five games will decide who's taking the last East spot.

A special mention needs to be given to St. Louis Blues' netminders. Jaroslav Halak and Brian Elliott have combined for a record tying 15 shutouts this season. And as a Cherry on top, Elliott now has three in a row for the franchise record. This team is definitely a tough nut to crack in the playoff series to come. Surprise cup to St. Louis, who knows?

Playoff race - Mar 12 - No one giving up today

Many teams had a lot at stake on Sunday's round and the ones that had most, held their ground this time. The action showed Washington Capitals earn a desperately needed victory both in pursuit of Florida Panthers for the Southeast division crown and to keep the other East hopefuls behind them for the last chance of ending up as the eighth seed. The Capitals' 2-0 victory came at the cost of Toronto Maple Leafs, whose playoff hopes are faltering fast. Florida raced ahead, finishing with same numbers, 2-0, against Carolina Hurricanes who basically are already out of competition. Spirited victories for teams who've struggled of late and loads of bad news for Winnipeg, Buffalo and Tampa, trying to catch them.

In the Western race, Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings picked up two points each to continue the pressure on the playoff bubble. Now it's a three way tie for the eighth seed for Flames, Kings and Avalanche, Colorado having played one more game. San Jose Sharks' misery was underlined on a day off. They now sit 11th in the West in the standings, but still have a few games in hand.

Last night's round also witnessed league leading St. Louis Blues hit 97 points with another win. That's enough points to make it to the playoffs already with 12 games to play. No question about the coach of the year award going to Ken Hitchcock.