Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Race for the playoffs: Ducks-Hawks highlight tonight’s Western Conference shuffle

Chicago Blackhawks v Anaheim Ducks

# of the Chicago Blackhawks against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on November 26, 2010 in Anaheim, California.

Jeff Gross

Western Conference

3. San Jose - 95 pts
4. Phoenix - 93 pts
5. Los Angeles - 90 pts
6. Nashville - 90 pts
7. Chicago - 88 pts
8. Anaheim - 87 pts
9. Dallas - 86 pts
10. Calgary - 85 pts

Colorado @ Los Angeles - 4 p.m. ET
L.A. is three points behind fourth place Phoenix and five back of San Jose for the division. Colorado is trying to make sure they stay one of the three worst teams in the league. The Kings are also locked into a battle with Nashville for the middle part of the pack and with Chicago lurking behind by two points the pressure is on the Kings to keep winning. Ideally, facing off with the Avalanche gives them a bit of a break, but it’s also the brand of game that could be a trap. The Kings would like to avoid having to face off with Vancouver or Detroit in the first round. With no playoff spots guaranteed, however, keeping their spot in the middle of the playoff pack is optimal.

Dallas @ Nashville - 8 p.m. ET

Nashville is doing quite well to rebound from a bad stretch and vault themselves heavily into the mix to make a run at home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Just three behind Phoenix for the fourth seed, they’re even at 90 points with the Kings. Dallas, meanwhile, has fallen off inconsistently but still sit just one point out of eighth and two back of seventh place Chicago. Going through this playoff race can make fans ride the emotional roller coaster and the Stars are in a dip right now. Taking out Nashville would get them right back into the mix and give them some momentum starting off a five game road trip.

Anaheim @ Chicago - 8:30 p.m. ET

The Western Conference shuffle is pretty well surmised in this game in Chicago. The Blackhawks with 88 points in seventh, the Ducks with 87 points in eighth and everyone is still in danger of somehow finding a way to get booted down in the standings if they’re not careful. Chicago’s won three of their last four games and the Ducks are working Jonas Hiller back into action after missing the last few weeks with vertigo. Having him deal with the Chicago attack of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane might be asking a lot of him especially after the Ducks got spanked by Nashville on Thursday. What are fans of other Western playoff teams hoping for here? A decision in regulation regardless of who wins.

San Jose @ Phoenix - 9 p.m. ET

While Phoenix is sitting rather nicely in front of L.A. and Nashville, they can change their fortunes in a big way by beating the Sharks. The Sharks hold just a two point lead on the hot Coyotes who have won eight of their last ten and earned points in nine of those games. It doesn’t end here for either of these two teams as they’ll play each other on back-to-back nights to close out the season. For now, this sets up as a great warmup for the rest of the season and a big test to see just how real the Coyotes can be.

Calgary @ Edmonton - 10 p.m. ET

The Flames are dangerously close to being irrelevant in the West playoff race and they’ll need to win every game the rest of the way to just get a shot at doing it. With just six games left to play, Calgary’s room for error is slim as other teams ahead of them have eight or nine games left in their schedule. Having to deal with their provincial rivals from Edmonton won’t make life an easier on them.