So after last night's games, it looks like the Western Conference playoff picture is all set. I'm most excited about the Calgary-San Jose match-up, which pits two great, uptempo, puckmoving teams against one another. I'm thinking that series is really going to be something special (please ignore last night's Sharks regulation loss to the Kings, though).
The Eastern Conference is still getting settled. The Flyers are on the outside of the bubble and need to run the table over the next two games to get in. If things stay as they are now, though, the East will have some very interesting match-ups in the first round. Washington-Pittsburgh? That's like an NHL marketing dream. Montreal-Boston is a great throwback series. And Rangers-Devils is good just because of the local rivalry.
I wish Gary Bettman had the power to just freeze the playoff standings when there were some nice looking games like this. Like he just says, 'OK. Season's over. This looks good. The playoffs start tomorrow.' He could even try it during the first week of the season sometimes, just to keep teams on their toes.

It's so funny that the Southeast division champion will basically be determined by Tampa Bay and Florida. Washington and Carolina's final games are against those two teams. Last night, Carolina beat Tampa Bay to keep them in the playoff hunt. Washington needs to run the table against Tampa and Florida AND Carolina needs to drop their final game to Florida for the Caps to get into the playoffs, so Carolina is in control of its playoff destiny.
Carolina's overcome a lot of injuries and a relatively small line-up to stay competitive all season, but you have to want to see what Alexander Ovechkin will do in the playoffs for Washington. Of course, one interesting scenario is Philly tanking their last two games, paving the way for Washington and Carolina to make it into the playoffs. Last night's Flyers loss to the Penguins was a step in the right direction toward that scenario (login info.).

I've got to say, I'm very, very impressed by the playoff run the Caps are making. Last night's win over Carolina puts them in a tie for the South(l)east division lead. It was also their fifth win in a row. While Washington isn't in the playoffs yet, if they break the tie with Carolina, they're in.
Goalie Cristobal Huet is certainly a big part of the Caps hot run. He's won his past seven starts, putting up a 1.67 goals against. Of course, to be fair, I'm not sure backup Ollie Kolzig, who Huet replaced when he was traded from Montreal, couldn't have put up comparable numbers.
The other big winning factors for Washington? Sergei Fedorov. He's lost a few steps and his numbers aren't what they once were, but his personality and will to win have been a great example for some of the younger Caps. He seems to have been a real steadying influence.
Another big winning factor for Washington? GPS for Nicklas Backstrom.

I know I often complain about the quality of US hockey telecasts, so in the spirit of being constructive, I should probably say I've really been loving NBC's Sunday coverage. I'm not a huge fan of Doc Emrick's work for the Devils, but he's much more restrained on NBC. Eddie Olczyk is really great at breaking down the action, as is Pierre McGuire, who basically is the second color guy, only working from between the benches. Both McGuire and Olczyk work like they're talking to hockey fans. They talk a lot of strategy and aren't afraid to disagree with the way players are playing or the way coaches are coaching. It's a really nice change of pace. I no longer dread watching a Sunday afternoon game. I even find myself learning stuff, which is pretty unusual for national (US) games.
Also, on the heels of the Times story about homophobic chants at the Garden, I was at Friday's Flyers-Devils game at the Prudential Center in Newark and the homophobic chanting was pretty awful. Fans of both teams (there were about one-third Flyers fans there) were going at it the whole game, and then afterwards. I felt like I was in a different era. I was with some friends who aren't huge hockey fans and it was kind of embarrassing for me. I felt like they were thinking I've thrown my lot in with a group with the emotional maturity of 11-year-old boys.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I have the emotional maturity of a 14-year-old boy.
So basically, it might not be the worst thing in the world if some NHL teams decide to try and educate their fans about acceptable behavior in the 21st century.
Also, my fantasy column is up at RotoRob.