March 19th West Playoff Race Update

Well, Dallas is in 10th as I write this. By the time they take the opening faceoff in San Jose on Saturday afternoon, they could be as low as 12th in the standings.

We know that Dallas didn't do itself any favors by dropping the first two games of this crucial road trip in Vancouver and Edmonton. Of course, some other teams also helped themselves out quite a bit this week as well.

A look at that and the standings after the jump.

Stars Tiebreakers With Other Teams:

• Anaheim - Lead season series, 7 points to 5 points with 1 game to play - Tied in goal differential -11 to -11
• Columbus - Won season series, 7 points to 4 points
• Edmonton - Tied season series at 2-2 - Lead in goal differential -14 to -17
• Los Angeles - Trail season series, 7 points to 4 with 2 games to play - Lead goal differential -11 to -20
• Minnesota - Won season series (Currently 6 points to 1 point with 1 game to play)
• Nashville - Tied season series at 2-2 - Lead in goal differential -11 to -14
• St. Louis - Lost season series (STL leads 6 points to 0 with 1 game to play)
• Vancouver - Lead season series, 4 points to 3 with 1 game to play - Trail goal differential +19 to -14

Nashville picked up 3 out of a possible 4 points during their visit to Southern California this week with a win over the Kings and an OT loss to Anaheim on Wednesday night to pull into sole possession of the 7th seed...and two points ahead of the Stars. They take on San Jose on Thursday night to conclude their road trip against the Pacific Time Zone/Arizona Standard Time based teams, where they have yet to be beaten in regulation.

St. Louis opened up a Western Canada road trip with a 2-1 shootout loss to the Oilers on Tuesday. They're still one point back of the Stars and will be the next victim...err, team to try and beat the Canucks at GM Place on Thursday.

Minnesota finally found itself on the right side of a shootout result as they bested the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2, in St. Paul on Tuesday. They'll fly out to Jersey to take on the Devils on Thursday before flying back home to take on their division rivals, Edmonton, on Saturday.

Finally, we know Anaheim beat the Predators in OT on Wednesday. They'll have a home and home of sorts with the Coyotes. Thursday night, they get the Yotes at Jobing.com Arena. Sunday night, the Desert Dogs return the favor with a game at Honda Center.

Edmonton has been off since Tuesday's shootout win over the Blues. They play the Avalanche on Thursday before boarding a jet and flying out to Chicago where they'll meet the Hawks for a Friday night rumble.

And looking up a bit closer to the top of the standings, Columbus has certainly been on fire of late. On Friday, they beat the Blackhawks at the United Center. Last night, they beat the Hawks in OT at Nationwide Arena. They'll go down to Florida for a little R&R and hockey against the Bolts and Panthers this next week.