NHL wild card race watch: Sharks make late push, Kings back into a playoff spot
With fewer than 10 games remaining, the wild card spots in both conferences are wide open, and plenty of movement is expected.
NHL wild card race watch: Sharks make late push, Kings back into a playoff spot originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . It’s time for another edition of the Wild Card Watch – an ongoing series in which we break down the two NHL wild card races and focus on the two teams who are currently in a wild card spot, as well as the two teams immediately below them in the standings.
This week, many teams stayed in or near the positions they held last week. Optimists would say that’s a product of their consistency, but pessimists would say that’s more about the league’s mediocrity than it is about good teams being good teams. The truth is that both the Eastern and Western Conferences’ teams will be duking it out right through the end of the regular season, and there will be some above-average teams that don’t make it.
With that out of the way, let’s get right to it and dive into the latest edition of the Wild Card Watch: MORE : NHL wild card race watch: Major movement in the Eastern Conference, Predators continue to roll Western Conference: 7th Place – Utah Mammoth (82 points) 8th Place – Los Angeles Kings (78 points) 9th Place – San Jose Sharks (77 points) 10th Place – Nashville Predators (77 points) The Lowdown: The Mammoth managed to retain their same wild card position as the position they were in at this time last week, despite producing only two standings points. That speaks to the other teams below them in the Western Conference. If the Predators make the playoffs, it will be great for hockey’s marketability in non-hockey markets.
Still, there’s also a potential world in which the Mammoth falls out, and Predators fail to regain their spot in the playoff picture altogether. So Utah has to push ahead in its final eight games, and Nashville has to make its own push in its final eight games. MORE : Winnipeg Jets Making The Playoffs Would Be A Great Story Meanwhile, the Kings jumped into a playoff spot, earning four points.
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