All times Eastern
7:00 p.m.
Philadelphia @ Atlanta
Philly can gain a little breathing room on the Caps for the lead in the East with a win. Atlanta is fighting to stay in the hunt for the playoffs and a win helps keep them in the race four back of Buffalo. Atlanta’s been better of late but you worry that they may have slipped back far enough to be kept out of the playoffs. Four of Atlanta’s last five games have gone to overtime. Handing out the free loser point this time of year makes everyone cringe.
Detroit @ Columbus
After beating the Caps last night, Detroit looks to roll onward towards locking up the Central Division. Detroit’s got an eight point lead on Chicago for the Central and with fewer games left in the year, it’s almost inevitable the Wings are winning the division and a top three seed in the playoffs. Columbus would love to help slow that down but they’ve lost eight of their last nine games including four in overtime or the shootout.
7:30 p.m.
Tampa Bay @ Montreal
Perhaps the night’s most curious game as a Montreal win in regulation gets them to within two points of catching the Lightning for fifth in the East. Both Pittsburgh and Boston should be keeping tabs on these two teams as they’re likely who they’ll face in the first round of the playoffs in one way or another. Montreal’s won seven of their last ten games and are within four points of Boston for the Northeast Division lead. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is in a funk, losing six of their last eight games and they’re five points back of Washington for the Southeast Division lead.
New Jersey @ Ottawa
A big road game for the Devils as a win helps keep the dream alive. It’s also the first of their five remaining back-to-back sets of games as they’ll be at home tomorrow against the Capitals. Figuring out a way to navigate those sets of games and keep winning is going to be tough for them. Ottawa, meanwhile, is again looking like one of the worst teams in the league as not even Craig Anderson has been able to stand on his head enough of late to get them back to winning.
Toronto @ Florida
Speaking of keeping dreams alive, the Maple Leafs got an other-worldly performance out of James Reimer last night to give the Leafs a win to keep them within four points of Buffalo. A win tonight might make the faithful in Toronto go catatonic in fear of having their hearts broken with so few games left in the season. Florida won’t be a pushover team even in spite of them essentially being done.
8:00 p.m.
Boston @ Nashville
It’s a Vezina Trophy showdown in Nashville with Boston’s Tim Thomas facing off against Pekka Rinne of the Predators. We know that Thomas has garnered most of the praise and early ballots as the favorite for the goaltending prize, but Rinne has been there with him step for step. Thomas leads the NHL in save percentage at .938 and Rinne is second with .928. Thomas also leads in goals against average at 2.03 while Rinne is right behind him with 2.09. We know that Rinne hasn’t been getting nearly the same attention but you wonder just where the Predators would be without Pekka Rinne. Our guess, well out of the playoffs and struggling. Perhaps there’s another trophy for Rinne to go after if he leads the Preds to the playoffs.
8:30 p.m.
Chicago @ Dallas
While Chicago hopes to jump back up the standings into the middle of the playoff pack in the West, Dallas would like to avoid being put in danger of being bounced out of the top eight. Games like this are going to make the race out West thrilling because any team taking a loss, never mind a losing streak, has a brutal effect on their chances of making the postseason. Dallas sits in seventh right now a point ahead of Anaheim and Calgary and two ahead of Nashville. Chicago is in sixth but a win could vault them up to fourth.
9:00 p.m.
Colorado @ Calgary
Colorado proved themselves worthy enough to blow a 2-0 lead to Vancouver last night to help the Canucks clinch the division and a playoff spot. Calgary hopes they’ll be woeful enough to help them jump back into the top eight of the West playoff picture. With Anaheim winning last night, Calgary slipped out of the playoff picture thanks to losing the tiebreaker with Anaheim. Calgary is banged up and could use help from recently recalled Ales Kotalik. Hey, when times get rough you get desperate and for Calgary, they’re hoping they haven’t run out of gas just yet.
Phoenix @ Edmonton
The Coyotes have been rolling of late winning four of their last five games and find themselves in fifth place in the Western Conference because of it. Dealing with the much maligned Oilers in their house tonight should work out ideally for them. On the other side of things, Edmonton is in the hunt for the #1 pick in the draft this year and they’re the leaders in the clubhouse four points worse than Ottawa. Don’t worry Oilers, Adam Larsson will be yours soon enough.
10:30 p.m.
St. Louis @ Los Angeles
All right so the Blues are essentially toast and after losing to Anaheim last night we’re sure they’ll want a measure of revenge against the Kings. Sadly for them, the Kings have been playing great of late. The Kings are on a four game win streak and sit in fourth place in the West. These standings can be fleeting but the Kings finally look like they’ve got it all together. Jon Quick continues to be incredible in goal and the addition of Dustin Penner appears to be just what they needed.
Minnesota @ San Jose
The last hurrah of the Minnesota Wild? This might just be it. The Wild are four points back of Anaheim for the last playoff spot and they’ve lost three games in a row. Another loss really sinks their hopes of making the playoffs and falling any further out of the race with so few games remaining crushes their chances. The Sharks will be without Dany Heatley who’s been suspended for cheaply elbowing Steve Ott in the head. If they can keep things rolling along, they can keep the Coyotes and Kings off their heels in the race for the Pacific Division.