So, there are nine teams within eight points at the top of our
inverse standings board. Here's your handy-dandy rooting guide for 4/15 as we cheer on fellow bottom-feeders in the quest to guarantee the best possible pick in the June draft. (Not sure I can keep this up daily, but there are five teams in action tonight while the Canes are off, so I thought I'd give it a shot.)
New Jersey (15-16-10, 40 PTS) at Toronto, 7 p.m.
The Devils are the best of the worst, four points clear of us and eight points ahead of last-place Florida, but they're in a death spiral after the loss of Kovalchuk. Another loss tonight makes it 10 straight without a win, tying the team record and making them a late contender for a Top 3 pick.
Philadelphia (17-21-3, 37 PTS) at Montréal, 7:30 p.m.
Another team with playoff dreams a few weeks ago is also headed in the wrong direction as the Flyers have lost four straight games in regulation, scoring just three goals in that span. The power play, which was the NHL's best just a few weeks ago, has failed to score in six straight games, going 0-for-16.
Vancouver at Nashville (15-20-8, 38 PTS), 8 p.m.
Weird to see Nashville down here because -- like us -- they usually seem to finish 8th or 9th just about every year. But a 1-7-2 streak, highlighted by the current six-game losing streak, will do that to you in a short season. The Preds can't score either. They have scored six goals in their past six games and have been shut out three times in that span. The Predators have been blanked a League-high nine times. Vancouver is probably the wrong team to see on the schedule when you can't score, but GO PREDS! (By the way, we're picking on Skinner for his 22 points in 36 games this year, but Weber and Legwand are tied for the lead in Predators scoring this year with 23 points each in 43 games.)
Columbus at Colorado (14-22-6, 34 PTS), 9 p.m.
Kinda weird that we're focusing on Colorado here, and not Columbus, but the Jackets are safely middle-of-the-pack this year with 45 points. We're all sick of watching them blow Top 10 picks anyhow, so it's better this way. The Avs clearly want and need hometown boy Seth Jones, but that didn't stop them from picking off the Canucks over the weekend to pass the Panthers for 29th overall. Also, the Avalanche are 11-7-2 at the Pepsi Center this season, so there's hope for tonight.
Minnesota at Calgary (16-21-4, 36 PTS), 9 p.m.
Minnesota is too far ahead to jump into our group of nine, but that hasn't stopped them from being really, really bad lately, going 1-5-1 so far in April. Calgary has been really good at playing spoiler lately, but losing Alex Tanguay will hurt. Honestly, this game will likely be completely unwatchable, so I'm just gonna hope for a Calgary win when I read the scores later on tonight.