With the regular season nearly finished and post-season races in both conferences coming down to the wire, here are seven games that could end up determining who’s in and who’s out of the playoffs.
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Monday, April 6, Sportsnet Pacific
L.A. is up 3-1 in the season series, outscoring Vancouver 13-7 in those games. While Vancouver is comfortably in a playoff position, they’re fighting to maintain home ice advantage in the opening round and the Kings are closing in.
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Tuesday, April 7, NHL GameCenter LIVE
The Senators are desperate to keep pace with the Bruins and Red Wings and facing a struggling Penguins team could be the perfect recipe to pick up another two valuable points. Crosby and Malkin have chewed up the Sens in the two previous meetings this season and Pittsburgh won both games although each contest was close (3-2 in regulation and 5-4 in a shootout).
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Thursday, April 9, NHL GameCenter LIVE
This could be the make-or-break contest for the never-say-die Panthers. These two teams always play each other tightly with their first two meetings of the season going to a shootout and a March 31 matchup being decided by a Milan Lucic goal with only 69 seconds remaining in the third period. Senators fans will have a close eye on this one.
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Thursday, April 9, Sportsnet Flames
Oh baby. In the Flames’ final home game of the regular season they’ll look to put an exclamation mark on the season series with the Kings. The loser of this game might be put in a precarious position in the standings.
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Saturday, April 11, Sportsnet ONE
This is the game that could determine whether or not the Bruins make the playoffs, play in a divisional matchup or wild card series, and whether or not Tampa Bay wins the Atlantic Division. If the Bruins can manage to finish above the Red Wings this could also be a first-round preview.
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Saturday, April 11, Sportsnet 360
Whenever these California rivals face off it typically results in fast-paced, physical hockey. Then again, at this point in the season both teams are usually fighting for playoff position. With the Sharks eliminated from post-season contention it will be interesting to see if they put up a fight or just roll over. Regardless of the Sharks’ situation, this game could potentially determine the Kings’ fate and the fate of the Flames or Jets.
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Saturday, April 11, NHL GameCenter LIVE
Whoever designed the 2014-15 NHL schedule certainly knew what they were doing. With 15 games on the final day of the regular season, this matinee should prove to be the most important. In all likelihood it will determine the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Oh, and just to make things more interesting, Dustin Byfuglien returns from his four-game suspension.