A not so fond farewell to the Coyotes‘ playoff hopes – not only did the Blue Jackets feel two of their worst road losses against the Desert Dogs, but they laid down and got run over by the Big Red Machine last night, falling 4-0. That officially drops the Coyotes out of the race, and leaves us with a four team pack fighting for the final two spots. (Yep, I sure do think the Wild are at risk – and if you look at Hockey Wilderness, so do they.)
Towards that end, we’re obviously rooting for the Kings to take down Minnesota tonight, which keeps them on the same plane of the standings, and we need San Jose to drop Dallas. Given they’re at home and looking to make up for last Sunday’s loss, I’ll bet that’s gonna be a barn burner.
I wouldn’t complain if we see Colorado take down St. Louis, either, but it isn’t much of a swing either way.
Meanwhile, out East, the Rangers improved to 7th thanks to the Senators‘ loss, but those crazy Jets keep pecking away at the playoff race.
That said, if they beat Florida tonight, you can almost certainly start printing the playoff tickets on Broadway. It won’t totally clinch them, but they’ll be right on the doorstep, unless something truly crazy happens.
Of course, if you want crazy, keep an eye on the game in Washington tonight – if Winnipeg wins, especially in OT, suddenly the playoff race out East gets…complicated.