as of games played on Wednesday, April 5

With three more nights of games remaining on the schedule, the Western Conference remains separated into three very distinct races:
 - St. Louis and Vancouver are battling for the No. 1 seed in the Conference.
 - Chicago, Detroit, and Nashville are in a three-team battle for the No. 4, No. 5, or No. 6 seeds.
 - Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Jose are in a four-team battle for the Pacific Divsion title (and No. 3) and then are joined by Colorado in a five-team battle for the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds.


Playoff Participants: Vancouver, St. Louis, Detroit, Nashville, Chicago
Still In the Hunt: Dallas, Los Angeles, San Jose, Phoenix, Colorado
Eliminated From Playoff Contention: Anaheim, Calgary, Columbus, Edmonton, Minnesota

Schedule Comparison

Chicago - 2 games remaining     home record: 27-8-6 (0 remaining)     road record: 17-18-4 (2 remaining)           opponent home record: 50-22-6 (.679)  Detroit - 2 games remaining     home record: 31-6-2 (2 remaining)           opponent road record: 40-33-6 (.544)     road record: 17-21-3 (0 remaining) Nashville - 2 games remaining     home record: 25-10-5 (1 remaining)           opponent road record: 20-18-2 (.525)     road record: 21-16-3 (1 remaining)           opponent home record: 22-15-2 (.590)

What's At Stake On Thursday For The Preds:
Three games on Thursday holds a direct impact on Nashville's playoff seeding -- Nashville's regular season home finale vs. Dallas, Detroit's home game vs. New Jersey, and Chicago's game at Minnesota. The Preds enter the night with a one point behind the Wings in the race for the No. 4 seed (and home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs) and two points ahead of No. 6 seed Chicago.


What to Watch This Week:
There are five more games on the schedule this week that will impact Nashville's seed in the Western Conference playoffs; the Preds play two more games on the week, the Wings have oe mid-week game, Chicago has one mid-week game, and the Hawks visit the Wings over the weekend. All three are in action on Thursday (Nashville vs. Dallas, Detroit vs. New Jersey, Chicago at Minnesota), all three are off on Friday, and then all three close out the regular season on Saturday (Nashville at Colorado, Chicago at Detroit).


Western Conference Expanded Standings Look

	Team	Points	ROW^	Games Remaining	Max Pts**
#1	Vancouver	109	42	2 (@Cgy, EDM)	113
#2	St. Louis	107	44	2 (PHX, @Dal)	111
#3	Los Angeles	93	34	2 (SJ, @SJ)	97
#4	Detroit	101	39	2 (NJ, CHI)	105
#5	Nashville	100	41	2 (DAL, @Col)	104
#6	Chicago	98	38	2 (@Min, @Det)	102
#7	Phoenix	93	34	2 (@StL, @Min)	97
#8	San Jose	92	33	2 (@LA, LA)	96
#9	Dallas	89	35	2 (@Nsh, STL)	93
#10	Colorado	88	32	2 (CBJ, NSH)	92

Seeding Possibilities:
No. 1 seed - VAN or STL
No. 2 seed - STL or VAN
No. 3 seed - LA, PHX, or SJ
No. 4 seed - DET, NSH, or CHI
No. 5 seed - NSH, DET, or CHI
No. 6 seed - CHI, DET, or NSH
No. 7 seed - PHX, LA, SJ, DAL, or COL
No. 8 seed - SJ, PHX, LA, DAL, or COL

Games of Note:

Upcoming Thursday Dallas at Nashville New Jersey at Detroit Chicago at Minnesota Columbus at Colorado Vancouver at Calgary San Jose at Los Angeles Friday Phoenix at St. Louis Saturday Nashville at Colorado Chicago at Detroit Phoenix at Minnesota St. Louis at Dallas Edmonton at Vancouver Los Angeles at San Jose

Completed Wednesday Detroit d. St. Louis, 3-2 SO Tuesday Nashville d. Minnesota, 2-1 SO San Jose d. Dallas, 5-2 Vancouver d. Anaheim, 5-4 SO Phoenix d. Columbus, 2-0 Monday Los Angeles d. Edmonton, 2-0 Sunday Detroit d. Florida, 2-1 SO Minnesota d. Chicago, 5-4 SO

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Tie Breakers
If teams finish the season with the same number of points, the following procedure is used to determine seeding:
1. The greater number of games won, excluding games won in the Shootout. This figure is reflected in the ROW column.
2. The greater number of points earned in games between the tied clubs. If two clubs are tied, and have not played an equal number of home games against each other, points earned in the first game played in the city that had the extra game shall not be included. If more than two clubs are tied, the higher percentage of available points earned in games among those clubs, and not including any "odd" games, shall be used to determine the standing.
3. The greater differential between goals for and against for the entire regular season.

Nashville's Tie-Breakers vs Chicago and Detroit
vs. No. 5 Detroit - NSH leads; NSH leads ROW 41-39 (+2, DET has 2 games remaining), Season series tied 6pts-to-6pts, DET leads goal differential +47 to +20
vs. No. 6 Chicago - NSH won; NSH won ROW 41-38 (+3, CHI has 2 games remaining)