The Senators beat the surging Washington Capitals 2-1 in overtime to cap off what has been an amazing season for the club with their crucial injuries.  After losing Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson for extended periods of time, the Senators were supposed to fold up camp, mail it in and forget about the playoffs.  But someone clearly forgot to tell the Sens that.

The self labelled “Pesky Sens” have hung around all season, grinding out wins and finding new ways to take two points.  They’ve defied the odds and now they have a chance to send Daniel Alfredsson into retirement with a memorable cup run.  This team is getting healthy at the right time and could be a great sleeper pick in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

Meanwhile the New York Rangers also punched their ticket to the dance thanks to a 2-1 overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes.  But the Rangers aren’t a feel good story like the Senators, rather the opposite.

This is a club that was assembled to steam roll through the regular season and had many experts picking them as the clear Stanley Cup favorites.  Inconsistency all season has haunted the blue shirts and now they limp into the playoffs after winning game 47.  Sure the old adage rings true, just get in and anything can happen.  But it’s hard to imagine that anything short of a miraculous cup final run would mean drastic changes on Broadway.

The Winnipeg Jets were still in the hunt half way through their game against the Montreal Canadiens but when the Sens and Rangers won, the Jets were officially eliminated.  Their impressive run came to an end on the last game of the regular season for them and much like the Senators, the Jets weren’t supposed to hang around this long.

They do have a solid core of players to build around and free-agency could provide them the opportunity to add some missing tools.  With some bloated salaries and under performing players set to come off the books, the Jets need to open the wallet and instantly make their roster better on July 5th.

Out west the playoff chase has tightened up and will come down to the final games of the season for the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets.  Both clubs won last night and the victory by Columbus over the Dallas Stars officially eliminated the Texas based team from the playoffs.

Three teams remain and will battle it out for the final two playoff spots.  As it stands today the Wings are in seventh, just one point up on the Jackets and Minnesota Wild who currently hold down the eight spot thanks to more regulation wins.

The Wild have two games remaining while Detroit and Columbus each have one.  My prediction?  The Wings falter against Dallas in their final contest, the Jackets win and they will shock the hockey world by making the playoffs. As for the Wild, that leaves them in the playoffs as they play the lowly Edmonton Oilers and Colorado Avalanche, so two points somewhere in there should be a given.

Buckle up, the final few days of the regular season is going to be a wild ride.

Let’s start in Winnipeg where it’s do or die for the Jets when they host the Montreal Canadiens tonight.  For the Jets it’s real simple; win and then hope the New York Rangers and/or the Ottawa Senators lose.

The deck is stacked against the Jets as they play their 48th and final game of the regular season.  Sitting one point back of both New York and Ottawa, Winnipeg will need some help if they hope to make it to the dance, but they can’t look to far ahead.  The Canadiens are already in the playoffs but they still have plenty to play for in the Northeast division title.

Currently tied with the Boston Bruins, the Habs have played one more game than their arch rivals, making tonight’s contest ever important.

The MTS Centre will be rocking and needless to say it will be a playoff type atmosphere.  As a result, I’m calling the Jets with a 4-3 overtime win that could blow the roof off the arena and keeping their playoff hopes alive.

All eyes will be on the out of town score board in Winnipeg, more specifically with what’s going on in Washington and Carolina.

The Jets had been chasing the Washington Capitals for the division lead up until Tuesday night when they were defeated by the Ovechkin led Caps.  With the division now secured the Caps have nothing left to play for and suddenly every Jets fan will be cheering the Capitals on as they host the Ottawa Senators.

The Sens look like a good bet to make the playoffs given they have three games remaining, including tonight’s.  With Winnipeg down to their last chance to secure two points, the Sens will have at least two more tries to get into the playoffs and with Erik Karlsson returning tonight they may not need the other two.

But this is a Capitals team that has been steam rolling clubs lately, ever since Adam Oates put Ovechkin on a line with Nicklas Backstrom.  I’m taking the Caps in a 4-2 win, keeping the Jets alive and well.

As mentioned, the other game Jets fans will be keeping an eye on is in Carolina where the Hurricanes will host the New York Rangers.  Carolina has a nice side story going with Jared Staal set to make his NHL debut and play alongside his brother Eric and Jordan, but for the Rangers it’s all business.  Two points or bust should be the Rangers philosophy.  With a game in  hand on the Jets, New York needs to control their own destiny tonight and not have the last game of the year have so much riding on it.

My predicition?  Rangers with a 4-1 win and securing themselves a playoff spot.

Out west there are two games that will impact who makes the top eight in the conference.  The first has the Detroit Red Wings hosting the Nashville Predators.  The Wings won their game in hand on the Columbus Blue Jackets last night by beating the LA Kings to go one point up for the eighth and final playoff spot.

The Predators are playing for the draft lottery now but still have much to prove as they wind up the season.  A team that appears to be lacking an identity lately, it could be easy to overlook the Preds.  But when you have a room full of veteran presence, the Wings will skate away with a 4-2 win.

Finally, in Dallas the Blue Jackets need to win to keep pace with the Red Wings as both clubs have two games remaining.  While the Stars aren’t out of the playoff picture entirely, they need to win both of their games including tonight’s in regulation and rely on a lot of help.  With so much riding on this game tonight, I think both clubs will play a tight, defensive checking game, resulting in overtime being needed to decide the winner.  Five minutes of four-on-four may not be enough so I’m calling a 3-2 shootout win for the Dallas Stars.

It’s sure to be an exciting night on the ice with the playoffs looming.  Agree or disagree with my predictions?  Let me know by leaving your comments below.

After falling behind 2-0 after twenty minutes, the Jets battled back in the middle frame to tie it at two.  Herein lies the problem for the Jets, they couldn’t maintain that pace, giving up another two goals in the period to fall behind 4-2 heading into the final frame.

Despite pulling to within one midway through the third, the Jets couldn’t get the equalizer and eventually Alex Ovechkin would ice it with his astonishing 31st goal of the season.

With the win the Caps clinch the division and ensure themselves of the number three seed in the east along with home ice advantage for at least the first round of the playoffs. Not bad for a club that fall flat on their face at the start of the season.

As for the Jets, they are now on life support when looking at their playoff chances.  They remain in ninth place, just one point back of the New York Rangers for that final ticket to the postseason dance.  The problem for the Jets is they are running out of games with just a single contest remaining before the end of the regular season and its a date with the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night.

Needless to say it’s a must win for Winnipeg but even then it may not be enough given the Rangers have two games remaining, both against non-playoff teams in the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils.  Typically this would be in the Rangers advantage but given they lost to the lowly Florida Panthers last night, nothing can be taken for granted.

Can the Jets get in?  It’s unlikely but anything is possible.  We’ll know more on Thursday night so stay tuned for that.

Speaking of New York, how about those Islanders?  Similar to the Capitals, this was a club that couldn’t find their identity to start the season and just sputtered along not making much noise of any sorts.  Suddenly they came alive in March and haven’t looked back since and now the Islanders are heading for the playoffs after securing a point in last night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Hurricanes.

John Tavares notched the tying goal with just over a minute to play, capping off what has been an incredible turn around for the Long Island boys.  They’ve found ways to win and found ways to gain valuable points on nights they needed them; last night was no different.

The Islanders have to be one of the better feel good stories of the season and now that they are in the playoffs they could make some noise.

Just four games are on tap tonight on the ice but three of them have implications on playoff seeding so there should be plenty of headlines tomorrow morning.

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