Pacific wide open

In that other Western Conference division, things are not at all that straightforward. With Central Division duo Winnipeg and Minnesota highly likely to grab the wild card slots by probabilities of 91% and 95.9% respectively, the 3rd and final playoff spot in the Pacific is a three-way-deal between current holders Calgary Flames, reigning Stanley Cup champions Los Angeles Kings and the late blooming San Jose Sharks.

Interestingly, none of the three teams made any splashes at the deadline and in fact Flames even sent Curtis Glencross, a veteran top-6 winger with a looming UFA-status, to Washington for draft-picks. Flames’ chances of making playoffs have gone south lately and stand now at 19.8%. The biggest factor has been the injury to #1 defenseman Mark Giordano, who’ll miss the rest of the season.

Los Angeles Kings stayed put on the deadline, only acquiring replacement for indefinitely suspended Slava Voynov in hard-nosed Andrej Sekera. Kings should never be underestimated though, and their probability to make playoffs is currently 41.6%, right at the heels of their local rivals, San Jose Sharks, who also decided not to make impact moves on the deadline. Their magic number at the moment is 44.3%.

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