Thursday Random Notes
- Standings update after play on 4/1 – Nashville continues to lead the Central Division lead with 103 points, St. Louis trails by four points with 99. Anaheim leads in the Western Conference with 107 points and has clinched the Pacific Division crown. Chicago is five points behind the Preds. The Blackhawks and Blues have two games in hand over Nashville.
- The Western Wild Card – Minnesota (76 games played) owns the first wild card slot with 95 points, the Winnipeg Jets (77) are in the second slot with 90 points. The Calgary Flames (77) has the third slot in the Pacific Division leading the LA Kings (76) by three points. The Kings are two points behind the Jets for the final Wild Card with a game in hand on Winnipeg.
- Who Should Pred Nation Root for Tonight? – Three games involving playoff bound Central Division teams tonight… Flames @ Blues - This is no time to cool off Calgary, LA is chasing you! Rangers @ Wild – The Wild are putting some serious heat on Chicago, although I’d like to see the Rangers light up Dubnyk. Canucks @ Blackhawks – The enemy of my enemy is my friend, let’s hope the Canucks are as dirty tonight as they were on Tuesday.
- The Eastern Wild Card race is still tight. While Boston has won three straight, they can’t seem to get any separation from those pesky Ottawa Senators. The Sens trail the Bruins by 3 points and have a game in hand on them. Florida’s run is basically done, they trail by six points with five games to play.
- The pressure is building in Detroit as their late season swoon has drawn the team back to the pack and within striking distance of Boston and Ottawa. It’s not likely… yet. But it is more likely that it was a few days ago, keep an eye on this one… and gee… look who’s playing tonight… Boston/Detroit at the Joe. Detroit has lost six of their last seven and the Bruins appear to have recovered from their March swoon, winning their last three.
- I’m gonna need multiple screens to keep up tonight… let’s see… Canucks/Hawks on the big screen, Red Wings/Bruins on the tablet and Flames/Blues on my phone.
- The Hockey News has named Filip Forsberg one of the five rookies that could make a difference in the playoffs.
- “Tragic… Number for Colorado is 2… they will be the next one mathematically eliminated. Florida’s is 4, Dallas’ is 6.
- Apparently suspended Kings d-man, Slava Voynov is not only dealing with legal issues, but dealing with a torn Achilles tendon… he had surgery on it and faces a six month recovery time.
- The disgusting cross-check performed by Dustin Byfuglien on Tuesday night should be getting an in person hearing from the DPOS. It is not, which means Byfuglien can only get five games maximum for his stupidity. Can’t help but think that the time of the year is coming into play here. Five games takes him out until the beginning of the playoffs. Considering the tenuous hold the Jets have on the last playoff spot, he could cost his team… big time.
- I guarantee Byfuglien’s hit gets three games or less because he didn’t manage to cause a serious injury. If the NHL wants this behavior gone, the results shouldn’t matter… a bad hit, a bad play is a bad hit or bad play… no matter what the results of it were.
- Nine games in the NHL tonight – Islanders @ Blue Jackets, Capitals @ Canadiens, Lightning @ Senators Bruins @ Red Wings, Hurricanes @ Panthers, Flames @ Blues, Rangers @ Wild, Canucks @ Blackhawks, Oilers @ Kings.
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