There are just three games left in the NHL regular season — for a handful of teams only two remain — and yet 20 of 30 teams remain alive for a Stanley Cup postseason berth. That’s NFL-caliber parity, and the league likes it that way. There were only two games scheduled Monday — the Capitals at Tampa Bay and Edmonton at Los Angeles — and yet even after those contests not a single playoff seed will be locked in.
The Western Conference takes this parity beyond reason. The Kings entered play Monday as the Pacific Division leader and the automatic No. 3 seed. But a loss would drop them all the way to No. 7, and by Tuesday night they could be out of a playoff spot completely. That’s because four Pacific teams, including San Jose, Dallas and Phoenix, entered Monday within two points of each other, with Colorado hanging three points back.
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Vancouver and four Central Division teams — St. Louis, Nashville, Detroit and Chicago — have clinched berths, leaving a true feast-or-famine scenario for the Pacific teams and the Avalanche.
– Brian McNally
