Fan In Van

The Backdoor to the Playoffs

The Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators appear to be the only two competitors for the number eight seed in the Western Conference playoff race, but there are a lot of scenarios which can still take place which could potentially allow both teams to enter the postseason.

Scratching your heads a bit? How could both Vancouver and Nashville make the playoffs?

A quick look at the standings, and the games remaining for the teams involved:

6th. Colorado: 91 points: VAN, MIN: 1 at home, 1 away

7th. Calgary: 90 points: EDM, MIN, VAN: 3 away

8th. Vancouver: 88 points: COL, EDM, CGY: 3 at home

9th. Nashville: 87 points: STL, STL, CHI: 1 at home, 2 away

10th. Edmonton: 86 points: CGY, VAN: 1 at home, 1 away

With the Calgary Flames having three games remaining, all on the road, things are looking serious. Mind you, the Flames are still a decent team on the road with a record of 19-18-1, but to play their final three games on the road is a recipe for disaster. Their games will not come easy as they will need to beat division rivals EDM, MIN and VAN.

Now here’s the scenario. Let’s say that Calgary manages to win only one game between Edmonton and Minnesota; that would mean they are entering their final game of the season with 92 points. If Vancouver manages to win one of their games between Colorado and Edmonton, they would be entering their final game of the season with 90 points, which would leave them two points short of Calgary.

However, if Vancouver were to beat the Flames in regulation, at home, this would give them the same amount of points as Calgary, as well as the same amount of wins, which is the first tiebreaker between tied teams. The second tiebreaker is the season series between the two teams; that advantage would then go to the Canucks, who have managed to beat the Flames five times this year. Therefore, the Canucks would finish ahead of Calgary and be in the playoffs.

Now of course the Vancouver Canucks would love to not have to make the playoffs on the final game of the season, but it appears that with Nashville having three ‘easy’ games against the Blues (twice) and Blackhawks, the Vancouver Canucks must run the table and win all three of their remaining games in order to make the playoffs.

So in the words of famed football legend Al Davis: “Just win, baby!”