With the Wild crushing the Avs on Thursday and the Lightning failing to mount a comeback against the Canes, the two presumptive favorites from each conference failed to assert their dominance. 

The Wild then lost to the Mammoth the following night, and the Canes face a tough matchup against the Wings on Saturday.

The Avs' once-humongous lead in the standings has all but disappeared, sitting just five points ahead of the Lightning, Canes and Wild, and the Stars are just one point behind. 

That elite tier in which only the Avs occupied is now gone, and the race is once again wide-open. 

Was the pressure and mileage on Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar just a bit too much? Did the break benefit would-be Olympians Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy? Could the gold-gilded confidence from Team USA with Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber and Matt Boldy carry over to the Wild? 

And what of the Sabres, Wings and Habs, who are led by an impressive young core?

Who is your Stanley Cup pick right now? Make your pick in the comments.