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 30 - Capitals holding on, Sharks out of water

Another night of play in the NHL and the smiles have moved to new teams' faces. Washington Capitals can breathe again, they delivered a mandatory victory after a tight game against Bostob Bruins. Now the ball is in Buffalo, where Sabres need to take points from recently struggling Pittsburgh Penguins to stay in the playoff bracket. Sabres' recent roll may put them as favorites, even though Penguins are widely considered a way better team.

In the West, Phoenix Coyotes, and their goalie Mike Smith, closed the door for the San Jose Sharks. Now Coyotes are again in the playoff mix, while Shars need to wait and see how far the playoff line slips before they play again. It's cruel, and losses like these can be extremely costly in the Pacific.

The road to finish the regular season is very different for these two teams. While Coyotes play four teams that either are already in or out of the playoffs, the Sharks play twice against two Pacific division playoff hopefuls - Stars and Kings - for the final four. And the Kings have another pair of games against lowly Edmonton Oilers while Stars need to wrestle against powerhouses from Nashville and St. Louis. All this adds up to a finale that no hockey fan should miss. The final setup of this year's postseason may well be settled on the last day of regular season.

Playoff race - Mar 29 - Lose one and you're out

Western conference and especially Pacific division has been thrilling to watch and follow for the last weeks. It's still very even, but some teams are now finally on the edge, or possibly already fallen over it.

While San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars have swapped division lead between themselves almost daily. Last night it was Dallas, who took a fine victory against Edmonton. Sharks instead were beaten by Anaheim Ducks, who are already heading for early summer vacation. Always nice to bother local rivals, huh?

Los Angeles Kings jumped to the playoff bracked and may have dealt Calgary Flames the final blow. At the same time Colorado Avalanche took a stingy defeat from Western powerhouse Vancouver Canucks. These losses now put Calgary and Colorado to a spot where they have to win all of the remaining games and still need some help in a form of losses to the other contenders. The real heartbreaker here is that they face off against each others on Friday evening. Both cannot be winners there and the loser can give up all hopes for the postseason.

Another tough game will be tonight when San Jose and Phoenix wrestle for the final playoff spot. Winner is in for now, loser is out. For Phoenix, a loss may end their season right here. Nerves, guts and heart, all called out.

Playoff race - Mar 26 - Capitals in, Sabres out, Coyotes in doubt

Sunday evening saw Washington Capitals retake the eighth position in the Eastern conference with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Minnesota Wild. Led by captain Alex Ovechkin's continued goal scoring streak, they jumped over idle Buffalo Sabres. This race is now looking to be between these two teams. Florida Panthers seem to have locked the Southeast crown by collecting enough points by reaching at least overtime. They now have a game in hand and three point lead. Meanwhile, the final push of newcomers Winnipeg Jets, doesn't seem to carry quite the distance. They sit six points behind the playoff spot and are simply running out of games.

The race may be decided on Tuesday evening when Capitals host the Sabres in Washington. A regulation win for either team may be the final blow. Expecting playoff hockey already.

In the West, the tension builds up for Phoenix Coyotes and their suspended captain Shane Doan. A reckless elbow, followed by couple of losses now put Coyotes in the scoreboard watching mode for a three day break they're facing. They're still seventh in the West, but have played two more games than Pacific rivals Dallas, LA and San Jose who are tied or one point behind in the standings. After games are even, Phoenix is likely out of the playoff bracket and needs extremely strong finish to climb back in. The pivotal point will be a match up against San Jose Sharks on Thursday, when the Sharks have played the two games they're due and head for the third game in four nights. The Coyotes need to be able to take advantage of fresher legs to have a chance.

Playoff race - Mar 25 - Suddenly Sabres, Western 3-pointers

The Buffalo Sabres finally hopped over idle Washington Capitals to take the lone possession of eighth and last playoff position in the East. The Caps have their say tonight, facing disappointing Minnesota Wild who are only playing for their pride at this point. Sabres' run has been phenomenal and Washington really has to pick up their game for the final stretch to keep up.

In the West, the final two or three playoff spots seem to switch owners every night. There's still six teams in the mix. However, Calgary Flames are up against the wall after a regulation loss to division leaders Dallas Stars. While the Stars are still only tied for the best in Pacific and need to carry on pushing, the Flames basically need to win the final six games to be sure to make the playoffs. Late inter division losses are a luxury that not many can afford.

To make matters worse, most of the rest of the competition in the West took points in overtime games. Only Los Angeles Kings were left with zero against Boston Bruins who hope to find their groove for a run at a repeat charge for the Stanley Cup. Calgary now sits three points behind the three teams tied for the last playoff spot. It's hard to believe that all of them could choke at the last stretch. Truthfully spoken, the Flames seem like the weakest team to produce anything even if they reach the playoffs. The rest of the pack might be able to surprise the top teams if the stars align perfectly.

Playoff race - Mar 23 - Western shuffle and suddenly slim hopes for Flames

Another round of play behind and lots of points shared at the playoff bubble. In the East, Washington Capitals had to settle for one point in loss to Philadelphia Flyers. The Caps still sit on the eighth spot and control their own destiny. However, Buffalo Sabres are charging hard and one slip could throw Capitals to the role of a challenger. Friday night the Caps have a critical game agains still hopeful Winnipeg Jets. Win for Washington would give them some breathing room and basically end Jets' run. At the same time, recently rejuvenated Sabres take on the conference leading New York Rangers. A tough game to beat for Buffalo, but who knows. Their desperation levels are at the maximum and Rangers are already easily in and a likely home ice starters anyway.

To the West then, where the race is even more thrilling. Thursday night's round shuffled the playoff chasing crowd big time. Dallas Stars had to give up the division lead after a loss to mighty Vancouver Canucks. Los Angeles Kings and Phoenix Coyotes wrestled victories and jumped to shared lead of the Pacific. Colorado Avalanche lost a tough one to the Coyotes and now sit on the outside. At the same time San Jose Sharks found the heroic effort to beat league leaders, St. Louis Blues to sneak one step closer to the playoffs. All of the teams in the bubble still have a chance to storm into the postseason, but it will take a high winning percentage in the remaining 6-8 games.

Calgary Flames took another dent in their hopes, losing in shootout to lowly Minnesota Wild. One point salvaged, but the Flames need to win at least five out of remaining seven to make it. Their next two will be against Dallas Stars, who sit above them. Those two games will basically decide which one of these two still has a chance. Cruel, but extrtemely entertaining.

Playoff race - Mar 22 - Raging Buffalo

There was only a few exciting games last night in regards of making the playoffs this season. Biggest impact was another solid win by Buffalo Sabres, this time over weak Montreal Canadiens. Another shutout for Ryan Miller and the team climbed to a tie for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Washington Capitals have a game in hand, but haven't been playing with much consistency or confidence lately. Buffalo has earned points in eight of last ten and with six victories and is on a trajectory to overtake the Capitals before the end of the regular season. Winnipeg Jets seem like one loss away from falling out, and the battle for the final playoff berth looks to be between Sabres and Capitals.

In the West the battle was between sure playoff contenders Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks. These two have a histrory of not liking each others and of epic playoff matchups. Last night's biggest impact may have been another nasty incident, a vicious elbow to the head of Vancouver's star winger Daniel Sedin. It was served and delivered by Chicago's star defenseman Duncan Keith. It'll be a suspension for sure, but with Keith's status, we're only talking about 2-3 games. Shane Doan from Phoenix got three games for similar, but a bit less obvious elbow on Tuesday night. For a lesser player than Keith, this could easily be judged extremely deliberate and punished to the maximum. Another reality check here for Brendan Shanahan.

The real question is how will Sedin take this, and if he's going down with a concussion, how long will it take to recover. Haven't seen much justice in the past when comparing the suspension and the time lost by the victim.

Playoff race - Mar 21 - All the action in the West

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.

Playoff race - Mar 20 - Sabres and Capitals fight back, Sharks slip

Playoff race took somewhat expected course last night. Eastern teams on the brink of playoffs, Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres, both pulled off comfortable victories to keep their positions on both sides of the playoff line. Sabres are chasing the Capitals. Capitals are chasing division leader Florida Panthers. If anyone falters, they're the one out of the playoffs. Florida has some cushion in points and games in hand, so they control their own destiny. Another hopeful, Winnipeg Jets is looking for an opportunity to break through Sabres and Caps. What a race!

In the West we saw San Jose Sharks waste another opportunity for taking a stand for playoff berth. This time they suffered a disappointing loss in the hands of local nemesis, Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks are out of the playoffs, but surely can find some enegry in trying to spoil the run for dear California neighbors. The Sharks still have games in hand for overtaking Phoenix and Colorado, who currently sit on seventh and eighth in the West. With their recent inconsistent play, it doesn't seem to mean a whole lot. Tonight they have one of the most important games of the season, facing Los Angeles Kings who they are tied with on the ninth spot in the conference. A solidary three point game again? Phoenix and Dallas are also facing off tonight, so we might see the whole Pacific division reogranized once the lights go out in the end. As a cherry on top of the Western race, Colorado Avalanche fights for points tonight against Calgary Flames on a bout that has epic impact for each.

And if the Eastern race is fantastic to follow, the Western one manages to push even further. Tonight we'll see it all on the ice: blood, sweat and tears.

Playoff race - Mar 19 - Eastern stalemate and a big point in the West

Sunday night's round of pre-playoff hockey saw both Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets lose their games. These two Souheast teams are fighting for East's last playoff spot and have little room for losses like this. Capitals were crushed by significantly better and tougher team, Chicago Blackhawks where Jets fell for Carolina Hurricanes who are hanging on extremely unlikely chances to make it. Their zero pint nights open another possibility for Buffalo Sabres who have a chance to tie Capitals for eighth tonight against Tampa Bay.

In the West, Phoenix Coyotes jumped over couple of teams to take their turn for a night in the playoff bound crowd. At the same time Calgary Flames lost one point on an overtime loss against league-worst Columbus Blue Jackets. The Flames are now two points out and their lousy performance against two worst teams in the league may have cost them a lot. LA Kings are surging up, Colorado Avalanche has been strong and consistent. Phoenix and San Jose have few points and/or games in hand. With only nine games left, the Flames need to snap out of this funk and finish strong to overtake three out of these four.

All in all, the fans get their money's worth every night on both conferences. The race seems to be extremely tight and entertaining all the way to the finish line.

Playoff race - Mar 18 - West in standstill, determination in Florida and rebounding Bruins

Saturday night provided only few results that could outright be categorized as playoff critical. The teams racing for the last Western conference playoff spots, Colorado, San Jose and Los Angeles, all took victories and kept the balance between them even. However, the other two, Phoenix and Calgary, who still are in the mix but were idle this round, face another must win in their next games. They face the bottom two, Edmonton and Columbus, respectively today. So that should give them likely chances to regain the positions from Friday.

In the Eastern conference, the biggest impact on the standings was Boston Bruins snapping their losing streak on an overtime victory over perennial rivals, Philadelphia Flyers. They regained conference's second seed when Ottawa Senators somehow ended up losing their game against dear old enemy, no longer playoff hopeful, Toronto Maple Leafs.

Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers took important two points against conference rivals, Buffalo Sabres. While Sabres also took home one point for reaching overtime, they are slowly running out of time in catching Washington Capitals, who are holding the eighth and final playoff spot. Panthers now have 5 point cushion and seem determined in taking the Southeast crown on a year where top two favorites Washington and Tampa Bay have struggled.

Playoff race - Mar 16 - Lights out for Lightning, West in deadlock

Thursday night's action was as intense as it gets at this time of the season. While most of the hockey world was concentrated on following Sidney Crosby's return, the life or death games were played elsewhere. Tampa Bay Lightning took a beating from Toronto Maple Leafs, who are already out of the playoff competition. After this the Lightning are practically out as well. Other teams in the Eastern playoff bubble are playing strong and running away. Only a miracle run of 12 straight victories to end the season could boost them up to the playoffs, but that's not going to happen.

Meanwhile in the Western conference, no one is willing to let go off their hopes on the playoffs and the heads up games between the hopefuls reach epic propotions. Last night Calgary Flames continued their strong run in the expence of falling Phoenix Coyotes. Colorado Avalanche lost one point in a shootout loss to New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks showed more signs of life in shootout victory over tough-as-nails Nashville Predators. Now there's four teams wihin one point and two playoff spots to share between them. Idle Los Angeles Kings can join the crowd with a victory tonight over summer vacation bound Anaheim Ducks.

And under the spotlight then? Crosby's return was successful and having him and Kris Letang back in the lineup seemed to push the red hot Penguins even higher, both in confidence and skill levels. A comfortable victory over East leading New York Rangers to rack up tenth win in a row puts Pittsburgh on top of the list of Stanley Cup favorites.

Playoff race - Mar 14 - Western lineup

Whoa, last night's round of NHL playoff bubble hockey couldn't have been more Hollywood if written as a script. Calgary Flames beat San Jose Sharks, but only in overtime. At the same time, Los Angeles Kings pulled off a encouraging victory over injury ridden Detroit Red Wings. And, just like in the movies, the three playoff hopefuls (Detroit is in already) are even on 78 points. Joining Colorado Avalanche who had a day off. So, four way tie before the last dozen games. We can rightfully call this a race!

In the East, Washington, Tampa Bay and Florida all pulled off victories last night to keep the balance between them and put the pressure on the Buffalo and Winnipeg who didn't play this round. On a side note, Lightning's superstar Steven Stamkos casually hit 50 goals with two last night. On a struggling team, he's been phenomenal and should be considered in the Hart Trophy race no matter what's the result for Tampa in the end.

On Wednesday evening, there's a clash between East and West when the Avalanche visit Sabres in Buffalo. Both teams are in desperate need for points and one could easily predict another mutually beneficial three point game there. Another team to watch is Phoenix Coyotes, trying to stay ahead of the surging four in the West while visiting Vancouver Canucks, who have been in some trouble lately.