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Race for the playoffs: Western Conference seeding up for grabs tonight

Ryan Smyth, George Parros

Los Angeles Kings left wing Ryan Smyth, right, celebrates his goal as Anaheim Ducks right wing George Parros, left, looks on during the first period of their NHL hockey game on Friday, April 8, 2011, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

AP

With the season winding down and the playoff picture sorting itself out, we’ll be taking a look at the night’s games and how they’ll potentially affect the playoff races. This is ProHockeyTalk’s “Race for the Playoffs.”

Western Conference playoff race

pz-1. Vancouver - 115 pts (1 GR)
y-2. San Jose - 103 pts (1 GR)
y-3. Detroit - 102 pts (1 GR)
x-4. Nashville - 99 pts (1 GR)
x-5. Phoenix - 99 pts (1 GR)
x-6. Los Angeles - 98 pts (1 GR)
x-7. Anaheim - 97 pts (1 GR)
8. Chicago - 97 pts (1 GR)
9. Dallas - 95 pts (1 GR)

p- clinched Presidents’ Trophy
z - clinched conference title
y - clinched division title
x - clinched playoff spot
GR - games remaining

While the final playoff spot won’t be decided until tomorrow, the seeding can get settled out a little bit tonight. Bear with us as we try to explain things as simply as possible. The chances of a three-point game erupting in any of tonight’s games makes things get a little nutty.

San Jose: The Sharks wrap up the second seed with a win over Phoenix tonight. A point from an overtime or shootout loss would move them two ahead of Detroit as the Wings play tomorrow afternoon against Chicago. Should things break down that way, a Detroit win in regulation or in overtime would make them the two seed. A win in the shootout would make San Jose the second seed because the Sharks went 3-1-0 against Detroit this year.

Detroit: The Red Wings seem destined to be the three seed given how the Sharks are playing. They can earn the second seed with a Sharks loss tonight and a win tomorrow against Chicago. The Wings can also end up in second if San Jose gets just one point tonight and they win in regulation or overtime against Chicago.

Nashville: Home ice in the first round is in Nashville’s hands tonight. A non-shootout win by the Predators over St. Louis locks up the fourth seed. A shootout win coupled with Phoenix not getting two points against San Jose would also do the trick. If the Predators get a win in the shootout and Phoenix wins in regulation/overtime, then Nashville would end up fifth behind Phoenix.

Phoenix: The Coyotes can wind up fourth in the West with a win over San Jose and a loss by Nashville. Phoenix can also wind up first with a non-shootout win coupled with a Predators shootout win. They’d be even in points but the Coyotes would then have the tiebreaker on Nashville for regulation/overtime wins. Currently they each have 38 of those.

Los Angeles and Anaheim: The winner of tonight’s game, at the very least, will be the sixth seed. If the Kings win and Nashville and Phoenix both lose in regulation, they can end up as high as fourth. The Kings won’t have a tiebreaker against either Nashville or Phoenix with regard to regulation/overtime wins so a Kings win and a overtime/shootout loss by either Nashville or Phoenix would slot them in behind those teams.

Should L.A. lose in regulation they could wind up either seventh or eighth depending on what happens with Chicago tomorrow. A Kings win tonight helps solve their playoff picture one way or another, a loss makes them wait it out another day to see whether they’ll end up playing Detroit, San Jose, or Vancouver.

An Anaheim win regardless of situation and regulation losses by the Preds and Coyotes would vault them into fourth thanks to owning the tiebreaker on both of those teams with 42 regulation/overtime wins. A Ducks loss makes them sweat it out til tomorrow to see whether they’ll be seventh or eighth.

Chicago: If Chicago wins, they’ll be in the playoffs and could wind up as high as fifth provided Nashville and Phoenix both lose in regulation and the Blackhawks win in non-shootout fashion.

Dallas: Should Dallas get into the playoffs, they’ll be the eighth seed no matter what and have a date with Vancouver. The Stars will need to beat Minnesota and have Chicago lose in regulation to do it.