The lyric “back to life, back to reality… from an 80’s R & B song might be accurately applied to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights as the playoffs approach. The Knights are a lock for the postseason, with an eight-point lead for top spot in the Pacific Division and an over .500 record in their last 10 games, but three losses were against potential first round opponents Anaheim and Los Angeles. On Friday, Vegas rallied to tie the lowly Ottawa Senators, but could not respond after the Sens retook the lead on an Alex Burrows third period goal. Currently, eight teams (Minnesota, San Jose, Los Angeles, Dallas, Anaheim, Colorado, St.Louis and Calgary) are within six points of each other and battling for top three spots in their respective divisions and wild card spots. Expectations have climbed so much for Vegas after their surprising success that a first round exit would be a huge disappointment for the league’s Cinderella story, but their fate may depend more on who they face in the opening round than how they perform. Vegas would likely be favored against the Stars, Blues, Flames, Wild and Avalanche, but may have a tough time against teams with extensive playoff experience, such as the three California clubs. Gerard Gallant is the odds-on favorite to win the Jack Adams because he has been able to coax consistent effort out of a group of players discarded by other clubs, but the question is whether the Golden Knights have another gear.
*******
Today's/Tonights's Picks
After going 6-2 On Thursday we went 2-6 on Friday!
Here are tonight's games:
LA (W) CHI
STL OTW DAL
NYR OTW EDM
BOS (W) MTL
PITT (W) NYI
ARZ (W) OTT
TB OTW PHL
BUZZ GAME OF THE DAY: WAS (W) TOR
NEW PROJECTED STANDINGS: