Don’t sleep on these hot teams in playoffs

The NHL’s regular season is winding down and the notable Stanley Cup contenders — Tampa Bay Lightning, Vegas Golden Knights and the two-time defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins — are going to be in the spotlight. However, there are a few other playoff teams that are coming into the postseason firing on all cylinders. And those are the teams no one should want to face come playoff time.

The Columbus Blue Jackets had won 10 straight games heading into Friday night, the second-longest winning streak in franchise history, set last season (16 games). Since the trade deadline, when they acquired forwards Thomas Vanek and Mark Letestu in addition to defenseman Ian Cole, they are a league-leading 11-2-0 (22 points), outscoring opponents 34 to 22 at even strength. Their overall goal differential in that span is also a league-high (plus-20).

Getting hot late in the season — especially over the last 20 games — is a good sign for postseason success. Since 2006, and omitting the shortened 2012-13 season, the eventual Cup winner has ranked in the top 10 for goal differential in that span eight out of the last 11 years. One other, the 201011 Boston Bruins, ranked 11th. Eight of the last 11 teams facing off against them in the Stanley Cup finals also ranked in the top 10.

Out west, the San Jose Sharks are also rolling. They have won six games and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games and have the second-highest goal-scoring rate since March (3.9 goals per 60 minutes). Only the Blue Jackets have been better at putting pucks in the net (4.0) this calendar month. The Sharks are also generating quality chances, generating six out of every 10 high-danger chances in their games since March 1. High-danger chances are those in the slot or crease.

And don’t forget about last year’s runner up, the Nashville Predators. Their plus-15 goal differential ranks fifth since the trade deadline and they feature one of the best forward trios in the NHL this season — and it isn’t the one featuring Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg, who lead the team with 56 and 53 points, respectively.

The second line of Kevin Fiala, Kyle Turris and Craig Smith has put 60 percent of even-strength scoring chances in their favor in 2017-18, while outscoring opponents 26 to 11. After adjusting for shot quality, they have an expected goal differential of plus-10.7, the highest among forward lines playing at least 400 minutes together at even strength this season. The Vegas line featuring Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith and William Karlsson ranks second with an expected goal differential of plus-8.4. That helps boost the Predators’ chances of not only reaching the Cup finals for the second year in a row, it also makes them one of the favorites to win it all. According to the average projections from Money Puck, Sports Club Stats and Hockey Reference, Nashville has a 12-percent chance of hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2018, second only to the Lightning (15 percent). Blue Jackets acquired Mark Letestu at trade deadline. Angels two-way player Shohei Ohtani, who was drawing comparisons to Babe Ruth, hasn’t taken the majors by storm. The 23-year-old Japanese star struggled at the plate and on the mound during spring training.