Vancouver still on track to face Preds with Stars closing in on first in West
It all starts in the back, in front of the net. And hopefully not in the back of the net.
Those who drink from Lord Stanley's chalice at the end of the two-month royal rumble that is the NHL playoffs invariably get there by having good goaltender play.
The Dallas Stars continued their run through spring by winning their eighth straight game Wednesday night — the first time in franchise history they've accomplished it — as the Texans beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 on the back of Jake Oettinger's 35-shot shutout, his second straight.
The win meant Dallas (48-19-9, 105 points) maintained its grip on first in the Central Division and Western Conference, and dealt a hammer blow to the Oilers' hopes of catching the Vancouver Canucks in the Pacific Division. They're now seven points behind Vancouver, though they have two games in hand.
“We don't have that many more games left before it starts for real, so, yeah, a big learning game for us,” Edmonton's Mattias Ekholm told Postmedia News. “They play a game that we're going to see in the playoffs and we're going to have to manage that a lot better.”
“A lot of credit to the Dallas Stars. ... You see why they're leading the Western Conference right now,” added Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “For us to come in here, it was a challenge for us and we came up short.”
The Canucks (47-21-8, 102 pts) are still first in the Pacific and on track to host the wild card-leading Nashville Predators (43-28-4, 90 pts) in the first round after they too got some clutch goalkeeping. Arturs Silovs stopped 20 of 21 shots in the Canucks' 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday, filling in for the soon-to-return Thatcher Demko.
“He really looks like a veteran in there. Very solid. Looks big in the net. Even from the bench, you look at shots, and he just looks big. Yeah, really like the poise in that kid,” said Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet.
The win gave Vancouver some breathing room in the Pacific and kept its hopes of a No. 1 seed in the West alive, but there are still some lingering questions.
It was a nervy win over a team that won't be making the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, with just one point in the last three weeks against top-tier teams. Four of their remaining six games are against playoff-calibre teams.
There are still a ton of variables left before the Canucks' firstround opponents are determined. Vancouver's remaining games, despite two matchups with the Cancun-vacation-planning Coyotes, aren't exactly easy.
There's a visit to Los Angeles on Saturday to face the Kings, who beat them 3-2 two weeks ago, and a home date against Vegas.
Then there's a showdown with the Oilers in Edmonton on April 13, a game that could have massive implications on the West standings.
The Flames, whose playoff hopes are as alive as Schrödinger's cat, visit Vancouver in the penultimate game, with the regular season ending with a trip to Winnipeg to take on the Jets, who are in third in the Central and fourth in the West, six points behind Vancouver heading into Thursday's games.
Here's a look at the contenders:
IF PLAYOFFS BEGAN TODAY Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators
The Pacific-leading Canucks are three points behind the Dallas Stars for the best record in the West, with both having played 76 games. The Predators (43-28-4, 90 pts) are the wild card leaders, just a point up on the Los Angeles Kings.
On paper, it's a positive outcome for the Canucks.
They're 3-0 against Nashville this year, including two away wins, having outscored the Preds 13-6. Nashville has lost three straight, but before that, they'd been undefeated in regulation over 18 games (16-0-2) with 74 goals for and 33 against.
Left wing Filip Forsberg has been on a tear this year, tied with his career high in points (84) and is one away from tying his goal-scoring high of 42.
He was blanked in a 3-0 loss to Boston, but had points in 16 of his previous 17 games before that (15 G, 14 A).
Another reason to root for it is the potential return of Cody Hodgson to Vancouver. The team's former No. 10 draft pick has been playing for the Preds' AHL affiliate, returning to hockey after an eight-year hiatus to deal with malignant hypoglycemia. He's scored six goals and added two assists in 12 games for the Chicago Wolves this year.
CONTENDER NO. 2 L.A. Kings (39-25-11, 89 pts) 4th Pacific, current No. 2 wild card Head to head vs. Vancouver:
2-1 The Kings kicked off a four-game road swing two weeks ago with a 3-2 win over Vancouver, then promptly lost their next three games, giving up four goals in each of them.
But Wednesday night, they put the final nail into the Seattle Kraken's coffin, eliminating them from the playoffs with a 5-2 home win. Trevor Moore had a hat trick for the Kings.
Los Angeles is hot on the Preds' tails for the first wild card spot, and the Knights, third in the Pacific, are only three points ahead.