Right now, the Vancouver Canucks are in a fight for their lives. Well, a fight to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a season that’s been full of adversity.
The latest bit of adversity, losing Elias Pettersson and Nils Höglander just as both players were playing their best hockey of the season and were giving the Canucks a formidable first line, something they lacked since before the JT Miller trade.
But after their already slim playoff odds appeared to get even slimmer, the Canucks have now done something not many expected from them: win games.
First it was the Devils, then it was the New York Islanders on Wednesday night. Thatcher Demko appearing to be the catalyst, the Canucks have refused to lose this week.
The only problem is, neither have the teams that they’re chasing in the standings.
The red-hot St. Louis Blues are on a seven game win streak and a well-documented soft schedule for the rest of the season. The Calgary Flames, winners of four straight, currently sit ahead of the Canucks by points percentage with two games in hand. While Utah appears to be in the “afterthought” category of the West playoff picture, there is another team to watch: the Minnesota Wild.
The Wild falling out of the playoffs altogether is still unlikely, but they’re banged up, and the Blues don’t look like they’re going to slow down anytime soon. The Wild have lost two straight and have a date with the Canucks coming up in mid-April in their second-to-last game of the season. That one could have big implications, as we laid out earlier this week.
This is all to say, as great as all the winning they’re doing is — and that’s ultimately what’s kept them in this conversation — the Canucks are going to need some luck on the out-of-town scoreboard at some point.
Thursday night is a great night for that to happen. Here are the Canucks, Blues, Flames, and Wild’s chances of making the playoffs, according to moneypuck.com heading into Thursday night’s games:
As you can see, the Canucks are at the bottom of that list with 20.4%.
In other words, they need some help tonight.
The Flames host the Dallas Stars. The Wild play the league-leading Washington Capitals. Utah plays the Tampa Bay Lightning, and a loss for Utah would effectively end their playoff hopes. Finally, the Blues play the Nashville Predators. Wouldn’t this be a great time for Nashville to play like the team everyone thought they were going to be this season?
While Thursday is also MLB’s opening day, it’s also a day filled with NHL games that Canucks players and fans alike will absolutely be paying close attention to.
