The Good: Stars lose (Sunday), Flames lose (Monday), Ducks lose, Preds lose, Wings half-lose. Oh, and KINGS WIN.
The Bad: Avs win (Sunday), Blues win (Monday), Yotes win.
The Bad but so what: Hawks win.
The Utterly Irrelevant: Jackets win, Oilers [haven’t lost yet but who am I kidding]
Two points “awarded” for every loss, one point for every OTL/SOL. Lowest point total is best. Number in parentheses is the official standings (via ESPN). Last number (+/-) is number of points (in my system) ahead or behind Los Angeles. Because it’s a Kings-centric universe.
Kings are now in a tie for 5th, three points from 4th, five points from 9th. 15 points separate 3rd (COL) from 13th (ANA); COL is 10 points above 9th place CGY; ANA is 6 points below 8th seed DET. Any one of those 11 teams is a winning streak or losing streak away from a dramatic shift.
- San Jose Sharks 28 (1) +13
- Chicago Blackhawks 30 (2) +11
- Colorado Avalanche 36 (3) +5
- Vancouver Canucks 38 (4) +3
- Phoenix Coyotes 41 (5) 0
- Los Angeles Kings 41 (6) —
- Nashville Predators 43 (7) -2
- Detroit Red Wings 45 (8) -4
- Calgary Flames 46 (9) -5
- Dallas Stars 49 (10) -8
- Minnesota Wild 50 (12) -9
- St. Louis Blues 50 (13) -9
- Anaheim Ducks 51 (11) -10
- Columbus Blue Jackets 59 (14) -18
- Edmonton Oilers 64 (15) -23
Tie breaker is games-played, except that the winner of the tie breaker is the team who has played more games. If this seems counter-intuitive, consider this: A team with a 10-2 record is better than a team with a 2-2 record, who is, in turn better than a team that’s 0-2.