The Nashville Predators won't have their regular season finale until Saturday, but tonight features two games that could go a long way towards determining their first-round playoff opponent:
Vancouver @ San Jose: The Canucks are locked into the #3 spot, but 1st place in the West is up for grabs between Chicago and San Jose. The two teams are tied with 109 points and two games left, but the Blackhawks hold the tiebreaker since they have more wins. Since the Preds cannot finish 8th, I think we'd all prefer San Jose to take the top spot, allowing Nashville to avoid a 3rd playoff date with the Sharks.
Phoenix @ Los Angeles: Now that the Coyotes are set for the 4th seed, can they give the Preds a hand and prevent the Kings from passing them in standings? L.A. has 3 games left to play in just 4 days, so they face a difficult challenge to keep piling up the points.
Those two games don't start until 9:30 Central time, so before then, make sure to follow the Frozen Four on ESPN2 (starting at 4:00 p.m. Central) and cheer on Blake Geoffrion and his Wisconsin Badgers.