Teams Jockeying for Position Is About All That’s Left Now

The Eastern Conference playoff participants are all but set, with only the order of the top two teams and the positions of the bottom four undecided. The West has wiggle room among the fifth, sixth and seventh seeds, and the Flames and Oilers are playing badly enough to keep alive the Kings’ faint hopes of finishing eighth.

Not that the Kings deserve to make the not-so-elite eight when they’re 0-3 against the Predators, who didn’t exist a year ago, and rank 26th in goals. And they probably won’t make it, with the Stars, Mighty Ducks, mighty Predators, Sharks and St. Louis on their schedule.

Here’s how the remaining races shape up:

The Red Wings’ post-trade surge has virtually assured them of finishing first in the Central Division and brought them within four points of Colorado for the No. 2 seed. However, Colorado has played impressively in compiling a 6-0-1 streak. Phoenix’s eight-point lead over the Ducks for fourth seems secure, although the Coyotes face Dallas twice, the Ducks and the Sharks.

The Ducks, 3-2 losers at Detroit on Monday, have a tough schedule that includes San Jose twice and the Kings once, always a physical game. However, the Ducks should manage to keep their two-point lead over the Blues, whose schedule is worse. Four of the Blues’ final six games are against teams with records of .500 or better, including Detroit, Colorado, Phoenix and the Ducks.

The Sharks, on a 7-2-3 surge, have six games left to overcome a three-point gap behind the Blues. The Sharks face the Kings and Ducks twice each and the Oilers and Coyotes once, a rugged but not impossible road.

The Flames and Oilers seem intent on backing into the last berth, and much will depend on their games Wednesday and Friday. Their final meeting, April 17, could be meaningless--or decisive. Each also faces Colorado once, but the Flames have an edge because they play the already-eliminated Canucks twice, and the Oilers get Vancouver once and San Jose once.

In the East, Ottawa leads New Jersey by three points for the No. 1 seed. Ottawa has six games left, to seven for New Jersey. The Senators have four games against teams with records of .500 or better and the Devils have three, but they also face three teams that have been eliminated--the Capitals, Islanders and Canadiens. The Devils, who lead the NHL in road points with 53, have four road games left; the Senators, tied for the conference lead with 21 home victories, play four of their last six at home.

Fourth, fifth and six could change, with Toronto playing the best of that group. The Penguins and Flyers, tied with 86 points and five behind the Maple Leafs, are reeling from injuries to key players and are a combined 1-7-2 in their last 10 games. Their schedules are similar, so their placement may be decided when they meet Thursday at Philadelphia.

By winning Monday, Boston and Buffalo remained tied for seventh and pushed the Rangers to the brink of elimination. The Bruins are riding an 8-2-3 surge, while the Sabres are struggling offensively and are in a 2-3-2 slide. Look for the Bruins to hold onto seventh, even though Buffalo has a game in hand, and for the Rangers and Panthers to start setting tee times.

MOVING ON UP

Goaltender Patrick Roy has climbed to fourth on the regular-season victories list with 409, behind Terry Sawchuk (447), Jacques Plante (434) and Tony Esposito (423). He had 289 victories and won the Stanley Cup twice with Montreal before he had a falling out with then-coach Mario Tremblay and demanded a trade. Since being sent to Colorado on Dec. 6, 1995, Roy has 120 victories and another Cup triumph, assuring his place in the Hall of Fame.

But which logo will he wear when he’s inducted?

“If you ask me today which jersey I would wear, it probably would be the Montreal Canadiens,” he said. “But if I play another four, five, six years and we win a few Stanley Cups, it might be a different question at that time.”

He could win again soon. Although the Red Wings fortified their defense and added offensive depth with their trades, they’re relatively slow on defense and may be vulnerable against speedy teams. Dallas is strong defensively but also has old legs and could be burned by fleet forwards. Colorado is better able to handle quick forwards and is as deep as its rivals.

Roy believes Colorado is gathering momentum and is in a similar position to 1996, before its first Cup triumph.

“The difference is there are a lot of great hockey teams this year,” Roy said. “The year we won the Cup we knew we had to beat Detroit to have a chance at the Stanley Cup. This year, you look at it, Dallas is a very solid team. There’s Phoenix playing extremely well all year. You have Ottawa on the other side. You have Jersey. You have Philly. There are at least eight or nine very solid teams, more than that, that believe they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup.”

Colorado was upset by Edmonton in the first round last spring, which Roy attributed in part to post-Olympic fatigue. He sees no excuse this time.

“I feel really confident,” Roy said. “Everybody is fresh. Their minds are there. And there should be no reason to not have a good playoff run. I’m not saying we’re going to win the Stanley Cup, but I believe that we should have a good playoff run.”

WILL EVERYONE WANT TO MOVE EAST?

The Maple Leafs’ first season in the Eastern Conference has been a resounding success. One likely reason for their turnaround is the decrease in travel, which leaves them fresher. But they also benefit from playing a “Western” style in the traditionally defense-oriented East.

“The style we play under Pat Quinn is similar to the style we played in Edmonton,” said goalie Curtis Joseph, who left Edmonton last summer to sign with Toronto as a free agent. “It’s an exciting game, a skating game. It’s not a trap or defensive, where you get lower-scoring games. We seem to be successful when we trade [scoring] chances, and that’s due to the way the team is built. I know we play better when we don’t tighten up, and we’ve been winning three out of four. Winning 4-3 or 5-4 doesn’t bother me.”

LINDROS IMPROVING

Flyer center Eric Lindros is in stable condition at a Nashville hospital, where he’s recovering from a collapsed right lung. Team doctor Gary Dorshimer said the bleeding into Lindros’ lung appears to have stopped and Lindros is getting medication to stimulate his red blood cell production.

Predator team doctor Rick Garman, who performed an emergency procedure to put a tube in Lindros’ chest to drain bloody fluid and ease his breathing, told Philadelphia reporters he would advise prolonged rest for Lindros. “I wouldn’t let him skate or be hit for the rest of the season, including the playoffs,” Garman said.

The Flyers, however, hope for a quicker return. “The doctors said he’s on the road to recovery,” Coach Roger Neilson said. “They filled his lung with air and now it’s a matter of getting his blood count back up. There’s a good chance he will be ready in a couple of weeks for the playoffs.”

SLAP SHOTS

Blackhawk players have vocally endorsed interim Coach Lorne Molleken, who may get the job on a permanent basis this week. Doug Gilmour played with a bad back as long as he could bear it to show he’s behind Molleken. . . . Andrei Zyuzin’s explanation for going AWOL from the Sharks--he was upset over how Coach Darryl Sutter had treated him--doesn’t ring true. By all accounts, Sutter was nothing but supportive of the young Russian, and Sutter never hesitates to criticize players publicly. Zyuzin’s agent, Vitaly Shevchenko, remains uncertified by the NHL Players Assn., so the Sharks can’t talk to him to discuss Zyuzin’s trade demand; Shevkenko refused to let Sutter speak to Zyuzin at a prearranged meeting and insisted on being in the room when personnel director Doug Wilson spoke to Zyuzin. Shevchenko has denied his rumored links to Russian crime figures, but the entire situation is curious.

The Capitals will cut season ticket prices next season. If only they could cut their injury list: they’ve lost more than 400 man-games because of injuries and illnesses. . . . Kevin Weekes, proclaimed the Canucks’ goalie of the future by General Manager Brian Burke when Weekes was acquired from the Panthers, is 0-7-1 with Vancouver and 0-12-2 in two NHL seasons.

Alexei Kovalev’s old habit of disappearing has reappeared. After scoring 16 goals in his first 28 games with Pittsburgh, he has two goals in his last 26 games. . . . David McNab, assistant general manager of the Mighty Ducks, said there’s no reason Hobey Baker winner Jason Krog of New Hampshire can’t play in the NHL, even though Krog is listed at 5 foot 11 and 191 pounds and looks smaller. “He’s got a legitimate chance to play,” McNab said. “The last time he was eligible to be drafted, he was playing Tier 2 [a low level of junior hockey]. Since then he hasn’t been eligible. He’s got a shot.”