Although there are matchups and/or home ice advantages yet to be determined in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we already know 15 of the sixteen teams that will be competing in the postseason and 14 of the 16 that will be on the golf course (or scheduled for surgery) by this time next week.
The only remaining spot up for grabs: The lower wild card in the Western Conference. The Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes will compete over the next few days for the NHL's final position.
Currently, Dallas holds a two-point advantage on Phoenix and has already clinched the tiebreaker with five more regulation wins than the Coyotes currently hold. However, Phoenix holds a game in hand on the Stars, which will be played tonight in Nashville.
Tomorrow night, the Stars have a home game against St. Louis. On Saturday, the Coyotes have a home game against San Jose. Perhaps the most intriguing part about the ensuing days is the prospect that Sunday's game in Phoenix between the Coyotes and Stars will be for the all the marbles in the fight for the final playoff position.
The Stars, who have missed the playoffs in each of the last five seasons, have grown used to seeing their playoff hopes come down to the final one or two games of the regular season. In 2010-11, the Stars needed a win in Minnesota on the final day of the season to get into the playoffs. They lost the game. Two seasons ago, Dallas was in first play in the Pacific Division with five games left, and lost all five games to miss the playoffs. They got eliminated in their next-to-last game. Last season, a five-game losing streak at the end of the season once again knocked Dallas from the playoffs.
Phoenix, on the other hand, has made the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, which included a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2012. They missed the playoffs last year.
CAST YOUR VOTE BELOW: WHICH TEAM WILL GET THE FINAL PLAYOFF SPOT?