With less than five weeks left in the season, here are where teams stand in the push to the playoffs (RoryBoylen)
Nashville vs. St. LouisIn a re-match of last year’s second-round series, having Vegas and San Jose meet up in Round 1 would set the tone for what should be a tough road out of the Western Conference. Through the season Vegas hasn’t seemed to have the same “magic” it carried through its inaugural season, but in the absence of mysticism GM George McPhee has brought in some measurable gains. The Paul Stastny-Max Pacioretty-Mark Stone line has clicked instantly in a seriously game-changing way.
At the same time, San Jose made its own trade deadline pickup, though Gustav Nyquist doesn’t have a point yet. The Sharks already had a pile of scoring, though, and that acquisition was more about committing to three lines of strong scoring skill than the need for an upgrade. The biggest difference between the two is goaltending. The Sharks have been the more consistent of the two teams overall this season, but between Martin Jones and Aaron Dell, they have the worst 5-on-5 save percentage in the league. Marc-Andre Fleury is a lock to be a Vezina finalist to many and has allowed just one goal over his past three starts, with two shutouts in a row.
A couple things need to break the Coyotes’ way tonight. First, Minnesota needs to lose in regulation to Nashville, and the Preds did just beat the Wild 3-2 in a shootout at Xcel Energy Center Sunday, outshooting Minnesota 43-26 in the process. If that happens, Arizona just needs to earn two points in any fashion.
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