NHL playoff race report: Calgary, Chicago pressuring their conference bunkmates

Welcome to the post-trade deadline NHL world! It’s a hellish landscape full of streaky teams battling each other for a handful of playoff spots. It’s a Great Time To Be Alive™.

So each Monday we’ll hit the reset button, take a step back, and look at how the playoff race in each conference has changed. Who’s up. Who’s down. What changed since the previous week. What games teams need to take care of this week. You get the idea.

Onward!

Minnesota Wild (42-15-6, 90 points)

Leads the Central by one point, 19 games left (11 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Better now that Zach Parise and Jason Pominville are clear of the mumps crisis.

Goal for this week: Keep the pace up. As we’ll point out in about five seconds, the Wild have more Western competition at this point than they have had in about two months.

Chicago Blackhawks (42-18-5, 89 points)

Holds second in the Central by 16 points, 17 games left (12 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Rolling hard. The Blackhawks only lost one game in February, going 12-2 since the All-Star break.

Goal for this week: Keep up the pressure on the Wild for the top seed in the Western Conference. That didn’t seem possible a month ago, but now it’s a real possibility.

San Jose Sharks (38-19-7, 83 points)

Leads Pacific by five points, 18 games left (11 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: That loss in Minnesota on Sunday wasn’t great, but otherwise the Sharks are heading in the right direction. They should get news about Jannik Hansen’s visa situation on Monday.

Goal for this week: Take care of business on a back-to-back pair of home games this weekend, and hopefully work Hansen into their lineup soon.

Nashville Predators (32-24-9, 73 points)

Holds third place in the Central by four points, 17 games left (12 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Holding steady despite two losses late last week. A strong finish to February gives Nashville some breathing room as they try to hold off the Blues and the other wild card chasers.

Goal for this week: Get two points in Los Angeles on Thursday to keep the Kings at bay for another week.

Edmonton Oilers (35-22-8 , 78 points)

Holds second place in Pacific by two points, 17 games left (11 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Mixed bag. Wins against the Red Wings and Blues last week were nice, but dropping games to the Capitals and Predators weren’t.

Goal for this week: Capitalize on Jordan Eberle’s resurgence. For much of this season, Connor McDavid has had one or two guys chipping in alongside him. None have the scoring ability of Eberle, who has seven points in his last eight games.

Anaheim Ducks (33-22-10, 76 points)

Holds third place in Pacific by zero points, 17 games left (13 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Not winning enough to keep the Flames at bay. The good news is that falling to the wild card isn’t a bad thing yet; the Ducks have at least seven points up on the Kings.

Goal for this week: Survive. The Predators, Blues (twice), and Capitals are on the schedule this week, no easy task for any team in the league. Anaheim has excelled this year in claiming overtime points, and they should try to keep that up.

Calgary Flames (36-26-4, 76 points)

Holds first wild card by seven points, 16 games left (13 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Arguably the hottest team in the NHL (no pun intended, for once) with eight straight wins. In fact, Calgary is 12-2-1 since the end of January.

Goal for this week: Easy. Keep it up against the Canadiens and Jets.

St. Louis Blues (32-27-5, 69 points)

Holds second wild card by one point, 18 games left (9 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Sliding fast. St. Louis followed up a post-coach firing surge (six straight wins) with a quick cool down (five straight losses). So nothing gained. same position they were in last month, with hungry teams chasing them.

Goal for this week: Find some offense. Over the last six games, Blues have yet to score more than two goals in a game against a non-Avalanche team. Games against Minnesota, Anaheim and the Islanders are up this week and could decide their season.

Los Angeles Kings (31-28-6, 68 points)

Trailing wild card by one point, 17 games left (12 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: The more Calgary wins, the less likely a Kings playoff appearance becomes. And, lately, their games against Western competitors have gone poorly: 1-3-2 in their last five games. L.A.’s loss to Vancouver in Ben Bishop’s debut on Saturday was particularly demoralizing.

Goal for this week:

Winnipeg Jets (30-30-6, 66 points)

Trailing wild card by three points, 16 games left (14 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Trending up! Winnipeg has five wins in eight games and is within striking distance of the Blues for third in the Central. But they’ve got a gauntlet this week with games against San Jose, the Penguins and Calgary.

Goal for this week: Get points in all three games. Somehow. An overtime loss is worth it this time of year, especially with one heck of a tough schedule ahead of the Jets.

Vancouver Canucks (28-30-7, 63 points)

Trailing wild card by six points, 17 games left (14 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Looking better after two wins over the weekend. But the four straight losses before that really hurt them. And so will the loss of Loui Eriksson, who left after a big hit on Sunday.

Goal for this week: A trio of Eastern Conference opponents visit this week: the Canadiens, Islanders and Penguins. Vancouver would love points in all three, but they’ll settle for two before the Penguins roll in. Just to keep pace.

Dallas Stars (26-29-10, 62 points)

Trailing wild card by seven points, 17 games left (12 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Better after a rare weekend road win (their eighth ) in Florida. But still not great. They still essentially have to win out to make the playoffs. Now that Antoine Roussel is done for the year, that’s a little more unlikely.

Goal for this week: See what you have in rookie Remi Elie. Sustain some sort of successful momentum. Keep Braden Holtby winless against you on Monday night. Squeeze some optimism out of the next three games.

Arizona Coyotes (23-25-7, 53 points)

Trailing wild card by 16 points, 17 games left (12 vs. quality teams)

Outlook: Safely all but eliminated from the playoff race.

Goal for this week: Take advantage of weak(ish) visitors at home (Senators, Devils) before a long road trip on the horizon.

Avalanche (17-44-3, 37 points)

Trailing wild card by 32 points, 18 games left (12 vs. quality teams)

Congrats to Colorado for essentially locking up the first overall pick before the final third of the season. They might be the worst team in the modern era.

Goal for this week: I don’t know. Have fun? Go see a movie? I hear Logan is pretty good.