This updates the Kings‘ tie-breakers status through tonight’s games. I’m adding MIN, STL and ANA to the log-jam, since the Kings’ three game skid brought them back into the picture.
The Kings are likely to be in a down-to-the-wire dogfight for 4th thru 8th place, with eleven teams competing for six spots. One of CGY, COL or VAN will win the NW and get the 1-3 seed, and the other two will fight for 4-8. Two teams will lose out. The teams locked in combat are COL, NSH, VAN, LAK, CGY, PHX, DET, DAL, MIN, STL and ANA. The question is, how are the Kings doing so far against these teams?
- COL 0-0-0 (4 games remaining)
- NSH 0-1-0 (3 games remaining)
- VAN 0-2-1 (1 game remaining)
- CGY 1-3-0 (0 games remaining)
- PHX 3-2-0 (1 game remaining) note: PHX has 1 point from OTL
- DET 0-2-0 (2 games remaining)
- DAL 3-0-0 (3 games remaining) note: DAL has 2 pts fom OTLs
- ANA 2-0-0 (4 games remaining)
- STL 1-1-1 (1 game remaining)
- MIN 2-1-0 (1 game remaining)/
So:
- VAN and CGY have already won their season series with the Kings. As a result, we really, really want one of them to win the division, since one of them or COL has to take that spot anyway.
- If PHX wins the remaining (Kings) game in regulation, they win the season series.
- If DAL wins all three of the remaining games (at least two in regulation), they win the season series.
- Season series with COL, NSH, and STL are very much up in the air.
- Kings have to beat DET twice in regulation by a total of more than four goals to prevail in goal differential.
- MIN has to beat the Kings by five goals in the remaining game in order to prevail in goal differential.
- The Kings are 2-0 and five goals up on ANA, so all they have to do is win one of the remaining three and not get outscored in the other three games by more than five goals total. Doable, obviously, but with four games left in the series, a lot can change quickly./