The Playoff Chase: 10 weeks to go
By Ryan Pike
4 years agoThe Calgary Flames have not made the playoffs in consecutive seasons in over a decade. Despite some uneven play this season, they’re in a decent position to change that.
Welcome to our ongoing look at the playoff race in the Western Conference.
The Pacific (in a snazzy table!)
| GP | Pct. | Pts | Reg W | ROW | This weekend | |
| Canucks (P1) | 51 | .608 | 62 | 23 | 26 | 2/1 @ NYI, 2/2 @ CAR |
| Oilers (P2) | 50 | .580 | 58 | 22 | 24 | 1/31 vs STL, 2/1 @ CGY |
| Flames (P3) | 52 | .567 | 59 | 17 | 21 | 2/1 vs EDM |
| Coyotes (WC1) | 52 | .548 | 57 | 19 | 21 | 1/30 vs LA, 2/1 vs CHI |
| Golden Knights (WC2) | 52 | .548 | 57 | 19 | 22 | 1/31 @ CAR, 2/1 @ NSH |
| Sharks | 52 | .462 | 48 | 16 | 20 | 2/1 vs TBL |
| Ducks | 50 | .450 | 45 | 14 | 16 | 1/31 vs TBL, 2/1 @ LA |
| Kings | 51 | .402 | 41 | 13 | 18 | 1/30 @ ARZ, 2/1 vs ANA |
Notable Central teams
| GP | Pct. | Pts | Reg W | ROW | This weekend | |
| Predators | 49 | .541 | 53 | 20 | 22 | 1/30 @ NJ, 2/1 vs VGK |
| Blackhawks | 51 | .529 | 54 | 18 | 22 | 2/1 @ ARZ |
| Jets | 51 | .529 | 54 | 18 | 22 | 1/31 vs BOS, 2/1 vs. STL |
| Wild | 50 | .520 | 52 | 21 | 22 | 2/1 vs BOS |
The tiebreakers are, in order:
- Points percentage.
- Regulation wins.
- Regulation and overtime wins (ROW).
- Wins of any kind.
- Points earned in head-to-head games between tied teams. (If they’ve played an uneven amount of games head-to-head, the first “extra” home game is thrown out.)
- Goal differential.
- Goals for.
Typically-speaking, it’s rare that tiebreakers go further than a couple levels down. But the “regulation wins” distinction is new this season, and the idea is to de-emphasize the shootout.
The race
Right now things are, to be blunt, pretty jam-packed. After Wednesday’s win, the Flames are two points up on Edmonton but the Oilers have a lead (for now) in points percentage because they have two games-in-hand. Saturday’s game could be huge, as the Oilers could draw even (or pass them) or potentially fall four points behind.
Beyond that, the Pacific Division has (for now) five playoff spots. The three top Central teams – St. Louis, Colorado and Dallas – are basically locked in, so it’s now a race for the three Pacific spots and the two wild-card spots. There are six teams fighting for the two wild-card spots; for now, the Pacific teams have a slight edge.
Everybody strap in, this is going to be a long and bumpy ride to the finish.
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