NHL schedule 2015: Canucks, Kings headline Saturday full of wild card intrigue

All eyes should be on the handful of teams battling for their playoff hopes. The prime example of that is when the Vancouver Canucks visit the Los Angeles Kings late on Saturday afternoon. It's an incredibly critical game between two Pacific Division foes. Only two points separate the Canucks, Kings and Calgary Flames so a loss on Friday could put one of these two teams in a compromising position as wild card teams bear down on them. Vancouver is just 1-6-1 in their last eight meetings with the Kings.

Meanwhile, two teams from both conferences will try to continue their desperate scrambles to sneak into the postseason. Ottawa has been on an incredible tear since Andrew Hammond set up shop in net, and they have an incredible opportunity to close the gap on Boston on Saturday in Toronto. If the Senators can take care of business against the hapless Leafs, they'll tie the Bruins for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The Dallas Stars face a tougher task as they try to climb out of the hole they dug themselves. After a miserable 12-game stretch of hockey last month, Dallas has rattled off a 6-3-1 run to close within eight points of Winnipeg in eighth place. But that doesn't tell the whole story, since everyone else is winning too. They've only made up one point on their other competitors in that stretch, and it won't get any easier against Chicago on Saturday.