Nashville slugging it out in wild West playoff chase

By Bud L. Ellis

From a pure order of standings perspective, the Nashville Predators look to be in good shape in the race for a place in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

But cast your eyes over to the points column, and you’ll quickly see an 83rd game is anything but a guarantee for Nashville.

The Predators are tied with Los Angeles for fifth place with 88 points with eight games remaining. But Chicago sits in seventh with 86 points, and a three-way tie for eighth at 85 shows just a game or two that slips away in the final two weeks can spell the difference between the postseason and the offseason.

Nashville is doing everything it can to ensure it plays into mid April. The Predators have won four games in a row and are 7-2-1 in their past 10 games.

The Predators face Anaheim, one of the three teams tied for eighth, on Thursday night. Another eighth-place team, Dallas, comes to Nashville on Saturday.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 8:44 pm by bud

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