2014 Playoff Tracker for April 4

Phoenix plays tonight at home versus Edmonton and the Coyotes could move back into a playoff spot with a win or one point. A regulation loss would be a big blow to the Coyotes and huge boost to the Stars.

Whatever the outcome, the Stars will have two games in hand, which they will play Saturday (at Tampa Bay) and Sunday (at Florida). Once those games are played, both teams will have four games left and we will see where everything stands going into the final week of the regular season.

Minnesota picked up a point in a 3-2 shootout loss at Chicago. The Wild, who hold the first wild card spot, now lead the Stars and Coyotes by five points. Dallas has one game in hand and the Coyotes and Wild are even in games played. Minnesota, which went 2-1-1 on a pretty tough road trip, looks to be in pretty good shape right now, but have games against Pittsburgh, Boston and St. Louis on the horizon.

Chicago failed to gain any ground on Colorado in the race for second place in the Central. The Avalanche beat the New York Rangers in a shootout, so they continue to lead the Blackhawks by three points in the race for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

St. Louis beat Buffalo, 2-1, so it now leads Anaheim by three points for best record in the West.

San Jose defeated Los Angeles 2-1, pulling to within one point of the Ducks for first in the Pacific. The Ducks have two games in hand.

Winnipeg lost to Pittsburgh, 4-2, and was officially eliminated from the playoff race.

Tonight's games

Chicago is at Columbus. The Blackhawks, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, will try to pull to within one point of Colorado in the race for second in the Central.

Anaheim hosts Nashville. The Ducks are battling San Jose for first in the Pacific and St. Louis for top spot in the West. The Predators are on the brink of being officially eliminated from the playoff race.

Playoff chances

The Stars' chances of making the playoffs went down a bit after last night’s loss at Carolina.

Hockeyreference.com's playoff probabilities report gives the Stars a 70.5 percent chance of making the playoffs. Phoenix is at 31.4 percent and Minnesota is at 98.0 percent.

Sportsclubstats.com has the Stars' chances of making the playoffs at 71.3 percent. Phoenix is 31.4 percent and Minnesota is at 97.2 percent.

Western Conference Playoff Race

Playoff format

The playoff format this season has changed due to realignment. The playoffs are now divisional. In the first round, the division winner with the most points will play the wild card team with the fewest points. The division leader with the second-most points will play the wild card team with the most points. The second-place team in each division will play the third-place team in each division. The wild card teams will stay in the division they play in the first round.

For example, if the playoffs started today: The Central Division playoff would have St. Louis (division winner with most points) vs. Dallas (wild card with fewest points) and Colorado vs. Chicago. The winner of St. Louis-Dallas would play the winner of Colorado-Chicago in the division finals. The Pacific Division playoffs would have Anaheim (division winner with second-most points) vs. Minnesota (wild card with most points) and San Jose vs. Los Angeles. The winner of Anaheim-Minnesota would play the winner of San Jose-Los Angeles in the division finals.

The division champions would then play in the conference finals. There is no more reseeding of teams after each round, it is bracket play leading up to the conference finals.

The Western and Eastern conference champions, of course, then play for the Stanley Cup.

Wild card playoff race schedules