NHL playoffs update: Sharks drowning in San Jose

In one, busy day the playoff picture all at once cleared up a bit and became more crowded and muddled. In the East, the No. 2 seed is still up for grabs while New Jersey continues to knock on Pittsburgh’s door for the division lead. In the West, the Coyotes continue their incredible surge and the race for 8th looks just a bit clearer now.

Will somebody tell me just what exactly is going on down in San Jose?

After the jump, updated standings and the games from yesterday that mattered. Anyone care for a Stanley Cup final between the Phoenix Coyotes and the Buffalo Sabres?

Eastern Conference

		DIV	GP	W	L	OT	Pts	GF	GA	DIFF	Home	Away	L10	Streak
1	Washington Capitals	SE	72	48	14	10	106	283	203	+80	26-4-4	22-10-6	7-1-2	Won 1
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	ATL	72	42	24	6	90	224	205	+19	21-10-4	21-14-2	6-2-2
3	Buffalo Sabres	NE	71	39	22	10	88	200	180	+20	21-9-6	18-13-4	6-3-1	Won 3
4	New Jersey Devils	ATL	71	42	25	4	88	189	169	+20	24-10-1	18-15-3	5-4-1	Lost 1
5	Ottawa Senators	NE	72	37	30	5	79	194	212	-18	23-10-4	14-20-1	2-7-1	Lost 5
6	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	72	37	30	5	79	212	199	+13	21-13-2	16-17-3	4-4-2	Lost 2
7	Montréal Canadiens	NE	72	36	29	7	79	196	198	-2	18-13-4	18-16-3	7-2-1
8	Boston Bruins	NE	71	32	27	12	76	176	181	-5	15-14-6	17-13-6	5-4-1	Won 1
9	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	72	32	29	11	75	218	230	-12	18-13-5	14-16-6	4-5-1	Won 4

I’m leaving the New York Rangers out of the picture because even if the are still mathematically in the race, they don’t deserve to be. Here are the games that mattered:

New York Rangers 1, Boston 2 - The Bruins were awake for this one and nabbed an all-important two points to continue to hold on to the 8th spot and to build a bigger lead on the Rangers. It’s a good thing because...

Atlanta Thrashers 3, Philadelphia 1 - Someone told me yesterday that the Thrashers have a better record than the New Jersey Devils do since the Ilya Kovalchuk trade. I’ll run those numbers later today, but if that’s true you all owe Don Waddell an apology.

Buffalo 5, Carolina 3 - At one point, I had hopes for a magical, Cinderella run by the Canes into the playoffs. Oh well. The Sabres continue to keep pace with Pittsburgh, and they have a game in hand.

Western Conference

		DIV	GP	W	L	OT	Pts	GF	GA	DIFF	Home	Away	L10	Streak
1	Chicago Blackhawks	CEN	71	45	19	7	97	234	179	+55	26-7-3	19-12-4	4-4-2
2	Phoenix Coyotes	PAC	73	46	22	5	97	201	179	+22	26-10-2	20-12-3	9-1-0	Won 9
3	Vancouver Canucks	NW	72	44	24	4	92	236	187	+49	26-8-2	18-16-2	6-2-2
4	San Jose Sharks	PAC	72	43	19	10	96	232	192	+40	22-6-8	21-13-2	3-6-1	Lost 5
5	Nashville Predators	CEN	73	42	26	5	89	206	203	+3	21-12-2	21-14-3	7-3-0	Won 6
6	Los Angeles Kings	PAC	70	41	24	5	87	207	185	+22	20-12-3	21-12-2	5-4-1	Won 1
7	Colorado Avalanche	NW	71	40	25	6	86	213	190	+23	22-11-2	18-14-4	5-5-0	Lost 2
8	Detroit Red Wings	CEN	71	35	23	13	83	193	192	+1	19-10-5	16-13-8	7-2-1	Won 1
9	Calgary Flames	NW	72	36	27	9	81	184	181	+3	18-16-3	18-11-6	6-4-0	Lost 1

I can picture the San Jose Sharks fan, sitting on their beds and clutching their knees tight to their chest muttering to themselves over and over “Not again.....not again...”

Here are the games that mattered:

Calgary 3, Minnesota 4 - It’s funny, ever since the Wild were pretty much taken out of the playoff race they’ve started to play much better. Calgary but desperately needed two points to keep pace with Detroit.

Nashville 3, St. Louis 2 - The Predators are going to be dangerous in the playoffs, and no one is paying any attention. More on them later today.

Phoenix 3, Dallas 2 (SO) - By the power of Dave Tippett’s lost mustache, the Coyotes are riding a nine-game winning streak to the top of the Western Conference. Chicago still holds the top spot thanks to tie breakers, but they don’t count.

San Jose 1, Edmonton 5 - I got nuthin.

Colorado 2, Anaheim 5 - I think we’re starting to see the inexperience and youth of the Avs start to come through.