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The 2020 Playoff Chase: four weeks left
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Photo credit: Perry Nelson/USA Today Sports
Ryan Pike
Mar 12, 2020, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 12, 2020, 00:25 EDT
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The Calgary Flames sit in a playoff spot with 14 games remaining in their regular season schedule. They sit smack-dab in the middle of a very chaotic, tumultuous Western Conference playoff picture where a dozen teams have a believable chance at playing past April 4.
Here’s our weekly snapshot of the chase.

The Pacific Division

GP
Pct.
Pts
Reg W
ROW
This weekend
Golden Knights (P1)
71
.606
86
30
36
3/12 at MIN, 3/15 at COL
Oilers (P2)
71
.585
83
31
35
3/13 vs NYI, 3/15 at PHI
Canucks (P3)
69
.565
78
27
32
3/12 at ARI, 3/13 vs COL, 3/15 vs WPG
Flames (WC2)
70
.564
79
25
30
3/12 vs NYI, 3/14 vs WPG
Coyotes
70
.529
74
26
28
3/12 vs VAN, 3/14 vs NYR

Notable Central teams

GP
Pct.
Pts
Reg W
ROW
This weekend
Stars (C3)
69
.594
82
26
35
3/12 vs FLA, 3/14 vs SJS
Predators (WC1)
69
.565
78
28
32
3/12 at TOR, 3/14 at CBJ, 3/15 at MIN
Jets
71
.563
80
30
34
3/14 at CGY, 3/15 at VAN
Wild
69
.558
77
30
33
3/12 vs VGK, 3/14 at PHI, 3/15 vs NSH
Blackhawks
69
.507
70
22
27
3/13 vs OTT, 3/14 vs WSH
The tiebreakers are, in order (per the NHL):
  1. Points percentage.
  2. Regulation wins.
  3. Regulation and overtime wins (ROW).
  4. Wins of any kind.
  5. 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.)
  6. Goal differential.
  7. 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

As always, we’re looking at points percentage because every team has played a weird number of games and it’s difficult to make apples-to-apples comparisons otherwise.
If the playoffs began today, by points percentage the match-ups would look like this:
  • Vegas (P1) vs. Nashville (WC1)
  • Edmonton (P2) vs. Vancouver (P3)
  • St. Louis (C1) vs. Calgary (WC2)
  • Colorado (C2) vs. Dallas (C3)
Nashville has forced its way into the playoff picture and we’ve added Dallas to the tracker because they’ve back-slid far enough that it’s possible that the Preds could catch them. The Coyotes continue to slide, while Chicago holds on for dear life. Considering the cut line is about 78/79 points, this may be the last time we include them because the likelihood of them forcing their way in is low.
The top two Pacific spots (Vegas and Edmonton) seem relatively secure, as do the top two Central spots (St. Louis and Colorado). Beyond those four teams, chaos reigns, and it is yet to be determined which four clubs can carve out post-season berths in the West.

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