There's only one game on tonight's schedule that directly affects the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference standings, but it's a biggie. The 9th-place Calgary Flames, considered a pre-season favorite to win the Northwest Division, are fighting for a chance to make the playoffs against the upstart 8th-place Colorado Avalanche. As noted by Aditya in the comments below, if Calgary loses this game, it clinches the Preds' playoff spot.
The Avs were picked to contend for the bottom of the West standings, and instead have overachieved all season, thanks to the stellar goaltending of Craig Anderson and the contributions of young guns like Matt Duchene. But is Colorado faltering down the stretch? At 4-5-1 in their last 10 games (including three straight losses coming into tonight), they are doing everything they can to slide downhill at the worst possible time.
I can just see the promo for tonight's game:
It's the Flames vs. the Avalanche... "Who will screw this up the least?"