This is a HUGE night, with all teams from 7th through 11th in the West in action tonight. This, of course, includes the Avalanche who square off against Phoenix at the grumpy-old-man starting time of 10pm eastern. A win by Colorado keeps the Avalanche in 7th and gives them a little bit of breathing room. A loss will drop them to 8th or 9th and would really damage their playoff chances. Tonight won't decide any race, but it could have a tremendous impact all around.
The nail-biting begins at 8pm with the Flames taking on the Wild in Minnesota. The Wild have lost 8 of their last 10 overall and 4 straight to Calgary, perhaps weakening their claim as the best team in the league. A regulation win tonight would be very beneficial to the Avs.
At 10:30, the Blues and Kings get underway in Los Angeles and the Bruins and Sharks drop the puck in San Jose. The Kings and Sharks each have 2 games in hand on Colorado. They need to lose.
| 6 | Chicago | CEN | 75 | 42 | 25 | 8 | 92 | 37 | 229 | 214 | +15 | 5-4 | 8-1-1 | Won 5 | ||
| 7 | Colorado | NW | 75 | 40 | 30 | 5 | 85 | 31 | 196 | 196 | E | 9-2 | 7-2-1 | Won 2 | ||
| 8 | Los Angeles | PAC | 73 | 36 | 25 | 12 | 84 | 31 | 172 | 160 | +12 | 5-7 | 8-2-0 | Won 5 | ||
| 9 | Phoenix | PAC | 74 | 36 | 26 | 12 | 84 | 30 | 194 | 192 | +2 | 6-9 | 3-4-3 | OT 1 | ||
| 10 | San Jose | PAC | 73 | 36 | 27 | 10 | 82 | 29 | 199 | 191 | +8 | 7-5 | 3-4-3 | Lost 2 | ||
| 11 | Calgary | NW | 74 | 34 | 26 | 14 | 82 | 31 | 183 | 201 | -18 | 3-8 | 5-2-3 | OT 2 | ||