John Torchetti and the Minnesota Wild waited until game No. 81 of 82 to make their postseason appearance official, but they're in.
Things were looking grim Tuesday night with the Wild falling to the San Jose Sharks 3-0, but the Nashville Predators were on hand for the assist, dealing the Colorado Avalanche a big loss and solidifying the Wild's fourth straight playoff berth at the 81st hour.
Defenseman Matt Dumba was a healthy scratch against the Sharks after an underwhelming performance against Winnipeg on Sunday, while fellow defender Mike Reilly is headed back to Iowa, but could return for the playoffs.
Leading goal-scorer Zach Parise has cooled a bit since his mid-March surge, while Mikko Koivu remains the team's points leader with 56 (17 goals).
With just a few games remaining in the regular season the Western Conference has yet to be decided, as potential first-round opponents Dallas, Chicago and St. Louis -- which each have two games left -- continue to battle for playoff positioning.
With Minnesota scheduled to face the conference leader, here's a breakdown of all three potential first-round matchups:
Chicago Blackhawks
Record: 47-26-7
Points: 101
Wild record in 2015-16: 0-4-1
Players to watch: Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, Marian Hossa, Corey Crawford, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook
Injury report: Artem Anisimov (upper-body), Corey Crawford (head), Marian Hossa (knee), Andrew Shaw (upper body)
Outlook: Puck-moving wizard Patrick Kane leads the NHL in scoring with 102 points (44 goals), and has spent much of the season playing opposite Rookie of the Year candidate Artemi Panarin, who has 75 points (28 goals) of his own. The reigning Stanley Cup champions loaded up for a deep playoff run at the trade deadline, supplementing an already deep squad with veterans Andrew Ladd, Tomas Fleischmann and Christian Ehrhoff.
Despite Chicago's regular-season success the Wild have played well against the Blackhawks this season, and took four of the two teams' five meetings in regulation, before edging the Blackhawks in a shootout last month. Chicago will be without defenseman Duncan Keith for the first game of their title defense, as he serves the final game of a six-game suspension. Coach Joel Quenneville says that goaltender Corey Crawford will "absolutely" be ready to go for the playoffs, while Marian Hossa is expected to return as well.
Dallas Stars
Record: 48-32-9
Points: 105
Wild record in 2015-16: 4-1-0
Players to watch: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, John Klingberg, Alex Goligoski
Injury report: Tyler Seguin (Achilles), Jason Demers (shoulder), Mattias Janmark (upper body), Brett Ritchie (lower body), Kris Russell (lower body)
Outlook: Top center Tyler Seguin expects to be back in time for the playoffs after cutting his Achilles tendon last month, restoring a top line that has been lethal all season. Linemate Jamie Benn trails only Kane in the race for the Hart Trophy with 88 points (41 goals), while Seguin has 73 points (33 goals) despite missing the last 11 games.
Winger Patrick Sharp, center Jason Spezza and defenseman John Klingberg have all crossed the 50-point threshold as well, but the back end is something of a question mark.
Goaltenders Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi have a combined save percentage of just .906 this season, as well as a 2.73 goals-against average, figures that should sound encouraging to opposing shooters.
Shot-blocking defenseman Kris Russell was acquired at the deadline to help mitigate the issue, but the Stars are still allowing more goals (2.80 per game) than any other Western Conference playoff team.
However, Benn and Seguin have made up the difference and then some, powering the Stars league-leading offense to an average of 3.80 goals per game.
St. Louis Blues
Record: 48-32-9
Points: 105
Wild record in 2015-16: 3-2-0
Players to watch: David Backes, Vladimir Tarasenko, Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk, Alex Steen, Paul Stastny
Injury report: David Backes (lower body), Jake Allen (lower body), Jay Bouwmeester (concussion), Robby Fabbri (leg), Steve Ott (hamstring)
Outlook: The Blues' hard-nosed style of hockey took a hit this week with the announcement that top center David Backes would miss the rest of the regular season with a lower-body injury, while goaltender Jake Allen will also miss time.
Goaltender Brian Elliott has been brilliant in Allen's absence, allowing just eight goals over his last six games, five of which game in a single loss to Edmonton, and now leads the league in both save percentage (.931) and goals against (2.03).
Winger Vladimir Tarasenko remains one of the league's most dangerous scorers with 71 points (37 goals), but the Blues aren't packing quite as much offensive depth as Dallas or Chicago, with their offense averaging 2.70 goals per game, good enough for 15th in the league.
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