With only six days left in the NHL season, there are still four playoff spots yet to be clinched, and a lot more seeds to be finalized. The Eastern Conference is still pretty open, with Montreal, Boston, Philadelhpia, NY Rangers and Atlanta competing for three spots. We know teams one-through-seven in the Western Conference, but that final place will see the toughest competition, as all of Colorado, Calgary, St. Louis and Anaheim compete for it.

Of the five teams competing in the East, only Montreal has a chance to earn their ticket to the postseason tonight. However, they’ll have to earn two points in their game against the Islanders and one of the Rangers and Flyers must lose in regulation (or both lose in overtime or a shootout). If the Canadiens earn just one point, both of the other teams must lose in regulation. This doesn’t seem like a very realistic scenario, but it is possible. They sit comfortably ahead of the Rangers, but they’ll still want to rake in the points as falling any lower in the standings may give them a first round series against New Jersey or worse, Washington.

If Colorado manages to overthrow Vancouver tonight in GM Place and Calgary drops their game against San Jose, not only would the Avs clinch a playoff berth, but the Sharks would also solidify first place overall in the West. They already can’t finish any higher than second in the league, and it certainly looks like they won’t finish any lower. The Avalanche on the other hand are struggling to reach the postseason, and a potential first round victory against the Sharks may be an even more difficult goal to achieve.

This time of year is so exciting, but it also crawls by so slowly. This season is no exception. We’ve been excited for the playoffs for so long now that this final week of regular season action can’t end soon enough. We know who will finish at the top of the lists, and we don’t care too much who finishes at the bottom. The only thing that will make it matter is if a Colorado manages to upset a San Jose or something, but the odds are incredibly stacked against something like that. Bring on the playoffs already!