Blues, Ducks Are In–Nashville’s Playoff Hopes Flushed down the Toilet With Loss!
The Nashville Predators lost to the Minnesota Wild 8-4 effectively killing any playoff hopes that the Predators were hoping for. Minnesota took control early and never looked back as they cruised to victory. It seemed like Nashville just couldn’t get anything going. Nashville didn’t do themselves any favors by going 5-4-1 in their last 10 games, not that bad, just not a good enough effort for this time of year.
The St.Louis Blues clinched a playoff spot beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1. Keith Tkachuk lead the way with 2 goals and an assist. The 37 year old is playing like a true seasoned veteran. He’s coming on strong at the right time of year to help lead his team to a playoff berth. It seems as though the Blue Jackets played as if they still had hangovers from celebrating their own playoff berth and a chance at the winning it all, the Stanley Cup.
The Anaheim Ducks clinched the last playoff spot available in western conference after disposing of the Dallas Stars 4-3 in a shootout. The Ducks jumped into 7th place with an outside chance at claiming the number six seed. Anaheim got a great team performance to pull out the victory. Their goaltending in the shootout was extremely clutch for such a high pressured situation.
Both the Ducks and the St.Louis Blues are finishing the season clicking on all cylinders. They are two of the hottest teams in the NHL right now. I know that the San Jose and the Detroit Red Wings are awesome teams but if they’re not careful the lower seeds are going to prevail. I’m so excited for the playoffs to begin. Next week the real NHL season begins, as the playoff teams get to continue their quest for the Stanley Cup.
In the last game of the night the Edmonton Oilers beat the Calgary Flames by a score of 5-1. The loss means the Flames will now have to start the playoffs on the road, probably not what they had in mind. The Oilers were eliminated from playoff contention a few days ago.
Apr 11th, 2009 at 7:56 am
For all intents and purposes the regular season has been over for quite some time. Teams that have made the playoffs have only been battling for position. Those teams that were eliminated early have taken out their frustration on the playoff teams by playing over aggressively with intent to hurt physically. Smart teams such as the Montreal Canadiens have not dressed their fighters until knowing that they were in a secured final position. It’s too bad that teams such as the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators have come so close to finishing in the top 8. They should be well prepared for next season now knowing that they can’t turn on their burners 3/4 of the way into the season. Every game into the playoffs ,makes big money for the owners. Rich teams are then able to sign free agents for the following season ,making themselves even stronger.