Predators Hold Tiny Edge

Nashville woke up on Thursday, April 9, holding the last Western Conference wild-card spot by 1 point, with 84 points in 78 games while Los Angeles sat at 83 points in 77 games. Utah was already ahead in the first wild-card slot at 88 points, so this was a fight for the final chair, not the first one. (nhl.com) (tennessean.com) That 1-point edge is thinner than it looks because Los Angeles had a game in hand, which is hockey’s version of trailing by a bucket while still holding an extra possession. Nashville had played 78 games, and the Kings had played 77. (nhl.com) St. Louis was not dead either, but the Blues were chasing from farther back at 78 points in 77 games. That left Nashville trying to hold off one team directly behind it and another team still close enough to turn one hot weekend into a problem. (nhl.com) Thursday’s schedule is why the race felt like live wire instead of scoreboard math. Nashville was at Utah at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, and St. Louis hosted Winnipeg at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time on the same night. (nhl.com) The Utah game was especially awkward for Nashville because Utah was not a bottom-feeder playing out the string. Utah entered the night on 88 points in 77 games and a four-game winning streak, so the Predators were chasing points against a team already playing like a playoff club. (nhl.com) Nashville had at least given itself a pulse in the previous week. The Predators’ official site listed a shootout win over Los Angeles on April 2, a win over San Jose on April 4, a shutout win over Anaheim on April 7, and then the April 9 trip to Utah with the playoff race still alive. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) The standings showed why every point mattered more than style points. Nashville’s goal differential was minus-18, Los Angeles was minus-25, and St. Louis was minus-35, which tells you none of these teams were cruising like true contenders and all of them were living on narrow margins. (nhl.com) If two teams finish tied, the first standard tiebreaker is regulation wins, not overtime tricks or shootout luck. Nashville had 27 regulation wins, Los Angeles had 19, and St. Louis had 29, so the Predators had a cushion on the Kings there but not on the Blues. (nhl.com) (usatoday.com) That is why the race could swing in two different ways at once. Los Angeles could jump Nashville simply by using its extra game, while St. Louis could make a points tie dangerous because the Blues already owned more regulation wins. (nhl.com) (usatoday.com) By late Thursday night, the official National Hockey League standings were updated “as of Apr 9, 11:40 PM PDT,” and Nashville was still sitting in the second wild-card spot with 84 points, ahead of Los Angeles at 83 and St. Louis at 78. In a race this tight, surviving one night without losing the line can be the whole story. (nhl.com)