VANCOUVER -- On the surface, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin are having another down season as the Vancouver Canucks' top-line duo.

After taking turns as the NHL scoring leaders and taking home the Art Ross Trophy in 2010 and 2011, the Sedin twins are averaging a little less than a point per game for a second straight season.

They still lead the Canucks in scoring by a wide margin. Older (by minutes) brother Henrik has 44 points and Daniel isn't far behind with 40. But in a season when the 32-year-olds moved into first and second all-time in Canucks scoring, they have slipped further down the NHL season leaders.

Dig a little deeper into the statistics, however, and there is a different narrative to be found, one that highlights how much tougher this season really has been for the Sedins. Looking at advanced statistics available on websites including behindthenet.ca, Daniel and Henrik are playing the hardest minutes of their 12-year NHL careers, starting more shifts in their own end and against better opponents.

Ask the Sedins directly and they'll say it's their best defensive season.

"I think so," Henrik said. "I think we are more confident in our own end, getting back, breaking out, and I think that comes with maybe the coaches more putting us out there in those situations, where we need to focus on that. In the past, our only job was to produce, and if your only job is to get goals you might cheat a little more to get in the other end, and that's when it hurts you the other way."

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets face a do-or-die situation Thursday when they play host to the Montreal Canadiens. And even if they "do," their Stanley Cup Playoff hopes still may die.

The Jets, ninth in the Eastern Conference, must defeat the Canadiens in their regular-season finale -- ideally in regulation, from a Winnipeg standpoint -- and hope that the seventh-place Ottawa Senators or the eighth-place New York Rangers do not win any of their remaining games.

"We know what we've got to do," Jets captain Andrew Ladd said. "We need these two points to give ourselves a chance."

ST. LOUIS -- If Jay Bouwmeester was emotionless after it came to fruition that he would be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in his 10-year career, facing his former teammates Thursday night surely won't faze him either, right?

Bouwmeester, who was acquired by the St. Louis Blues two days before the NHL Trade Deadline in a deal with the Calgary Flames will face the Flames for the first time when St. Louis (27-17-2) and Calgary (19-23-4) square off Thursday night.

"It's always different," Bouwmeester said after Thursday's morning skate. "I've had the experience of doing it in Florida, so it's not like it's the first time. Being on the road is a little different playing against the guys you were with. You make friendships, on the personal side of things, you make a lot of relationships. It's good to see everyone and all that, but once the game starts you just play the game. Guys play against each other all the time."

WASHINGTON -- Ottawa Senators coach Paul MacLean said if all goes according to plan, defenseman Erik Karlsson will skate 35 minutes and be named the game's No. 1 star Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

MacLean's comments were made with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but he can be excused for the over-the-top enthusiasm.

The entire Senators dressing room seemed to have a little extra jump after their morning skate Thursday as they prepared to welcome Karlsson back to their lineup with three games left in the regular season.

The reigning Norris Trophy winner has not played since Feb. 13, when he sustained a 70-percent tear to the Achilles tendon in his left leg during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Karlsson underwent surgery the next day and was expected to miss four to six months. Instead, the 22-year-old will return exactly 10 weeks after the operation.

"I've been feeling good lately and I think it's about time to play some hockey again," Karlsson said. "I think I'm good enough to play. I don't know exactly what percentage it is. Obviously it's not the way it was before, but it's still good enough to be able to play hockey and hopefully I'll show that [Thursday]."

BOSTON -- During the past couple of seasons, including the Boston Bruins' drive to the 2011 Stanley Cup, a line of David Krejci centering Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton has been a staple for the team.

During the condensed NHL schedule in 2012-13, injuries and ineffectiveness have forced coach Claude Julien to juggle all of his lines more over the course of the first 45 games than he usually would in an 82-game season.

That's left Krejci, who's typically regarded as the Bruins' No. 1 center, skating with several different combinations on his wing. His latest linemates are Lucic and Rich Peverley. Krejci is hoping he can build some positive momentum with any two wings heading into the postseason.

Toronto Maple Leafs fan Scott Booth was at a wedding the night his team defeated the Ottawa Senators to clinch its first Stanley Cup Playoff berth since 2004. When he heard the news, it gave him the opportunity to try to execute an idea he thought of weeks earlier.

"I overheard someone say, 'They won, they're in.' So I thought, 'OK, now I know what to do,'" Booth told NHL.com. "I woke up early the next morning and went to Change.org and wrote the petition."

The online petition, which can be found at www.change.org/LeafsGoalLight, called for Toronto's iconic CN Tower to be converted into a giant goal light, which would glow red every time the Maple Leafs score during the playoffs.

Within 24 hours of Booth posting the petition, it had more than 3,500 signatures. By Wednesday evening, it had more than 16,000. That's short of Booth's goal of 50,000, but quite a total for four days.

Despite bowing out in six games to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 Western Conference Finals, last season was a banner year for the Phoenix Coyotes, who won the first two playoff series since moving to the desert in 1996.

A number of factors conspired against the team this season, however, as the Coyotes missed the playoffs for the first time since Dave Tippett assumed the club's coaching duties in 2009.

So how does a team that was within two wins of the Stanley Cup Final miss out on the postseason a year later? Here are some of the reasons, as well a few nuggets of optimism for 2013-14.

1. Feast-or-famine offense

The Coyotes have never been known for piling pucks into the opposing net, but the 2011-12 team that made it to the Western Conference Finals was able to score with relative consistency. This season's edition, on the other hand, occasionally scored in bunches, but usually followed that surge up with an agonizing lack of offense.

DETROIT -- It's a number that usually astounds those who aren't very familiar with it.

The number 21 is how many consecutive seasons the Detroit Red Wings have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Usually it's a secondary thought around Detroit and it keeps growing by one each year almost automatically.

Then this season came along. Suddenly the Red Wings' playoff streak is in jeopardy with three games left in the regular season. Detroit (21-16-8) is ninth in the Western Conference with 50 points, one back of the Columbus Blue Jackets for the final postseason spot, and the Red Wings have a game in hand on the Blue Jackets heading into the NBC Sports Network's Wednesday Night Rivalry Game against the Los Angeles Kings (7:30 p.m. ET) at Joe Louis Arena.

"I don't think anyone's thinking about it, but it would be sad to have the streak not continue," Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson said after Wednesday's morning skate. "If we win all three, we know we're going to be in [the playoffs], so we don't want to take any chances."

NEWARK, N.J. – Following the Montreal Canadiens' 3-2 loss Tuesday to the New Jersey Devils, a team that was eliminated from contention for the Stanley Cup Playoffs two days earlier, Max Pacioretty encapsulated his team's abject play over the past 10 days with a defeated tone in his voice.

"I hate to keep saying it," Pacioretty said, "but we have to get our [game] together. Since then, we've been God-awful."

The Canadiens clinched a playoff berth on April 11 with a 5-1 victory against the Buffalo Sabres. But with the Northeast Division title there for the taking, the Canadiens have lost five of six and been outscored 26-12 in those losses thanks to a mix of poor defense, putrid penalty killing and a parade of slow starts.

All three of those problematic traits were on display against the Devils at Prudential Center.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Boston Bruins go into their game Tuesday at the Philadelphia Flyers (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN) with a rare commodity: a surplus of healthy defensemen.

Bruins coach Claude Julien said defenseman Adam McQuaid, who sat out the game Sunday against the Florida Panthers with a lower-body injury, is healthy and available to play.

"He's ready to go in," Julien said. "He's healthy, so he may be an addition [Tuesday]."

That gives the Bruins nine healthy blueliners for Julien to choose from as the Bruins close the regular season with four games in seven days.

"I think it's a good problem to have, when you have that much depth going into the playoffs," defenseman Zdeno Chara told NHL.com.