Saturday's Huge! Predictions?

[SpikeDDS]

OK, in the central, if Nashville makes it to overtime against the Avs, they are 4th. Only if they lose in regulation can the Wings take the 4th seed if they beat the Blackhawks. The Avs don't have much to play for, so I'm picking the Preds to take 4th seed.

The question then is who wins in the Chicago game. The next question is: Do we really WANT to win the Chicago game?

If we lose to Chicago in regulation, they move ahead of us in the standings and we face the Pacific champs. If we win, we face the Preds, in either case we don't have home ice. I think at this point I'd rather see them LOSE and play the Pac winner...unless that Pac winner happens to be the Sharks!

The Pacific is still up for grabs. If SJ wins and LA & Phoenix lose in regulation, the Sharks would sin the Pacific, and we'd have to play them without home ice. That would be a tough matchup. But the Yotes have 2 GR and if they win out and LA loses, they take the division. I like that matchup muuuch better than any of the others. LA-Wings would be tougher, but not as bad as the Sharks.

I say lose to Chicago and take the chance on not playing the Sharks. I wonder if the Sharks are thinking the same thing, though! Could tonight's contest be about losing more than winning?

Sucks that we've got to play a team out West...again. Those 10:30 EST starts are KILLERS!

What do you guys think? Win or lose against Chicago?

[sarsippius]

We had the same discussion about the Flyers, when dropping to 6th would have meant getting Florida instead of a war with the Pens in round 1. I'll say they same thing here, play to win and let the chips fall where they may. Taking your foot off the gas for even a second, can get somebody hurt. Crank it up and go into the playoffs on a roll