Western Conference Standings Watch: The Final Week

This is it for the Los Angeles Kings; we're now in the final week of the regular season as they prepare for their final five games, starting Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks. 

The Mammoth and Golden Knights continue to stack up victories and are the two hottest teams in the Western Conference playoff race, each winning four straight games. 

Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks continue to slide, now losers of six straight, and have dropped from the No. 1 seed to the third seed in the division. If Los Angeles can defeat the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday and Anaheim loses to San Jose, the Kings will be just two points back for the third seed. 

Teams like Nashville, LA, and even San Jose are putting pressure on Anaheim because of its recent skid, and with a much tougher schedule in its last four games, Anaheim can make things interesting in the final week of the regular season. 

But Los Angeles still has to take care of business in its final five games to be playoff-bound and determine where it will finish in the standings. 

Here’s a look at the current playoff standings in the middle of the divisions:

Central Division:

4. Utah Mammoth - 41-30-6, 88 points

5. Nashville Predators - 37-31-10, 84 points

6. Winnipeg Jets - 34-31-12, 80 points

Pacific Division:

3. Anaheim Ducks - 41-32-5, 87 points

4. Los Angeles Kings - 32-26-19, 83 points

5. San Jose Sharks - 37-32-7, 81 points

With the Ducks, Predators, and Mammoth holding the tiebreakers over the Kings, Los Angeles is going to have to catch them with more points if they want to surpass them in the standings. 

Let’s take a look at the big games to watch around the league for the next couple of days and who Kings fans should be rooting for.

San Jose, winners of five in their last six games, have been hot, especially Macklin Celebrini, fighting for a playoff spot, so expect them to give a full effort at home against the Oilers. Meanwhile, Edmonton is tied with Vegas for the top seed in the division after losing two straight games, so they will also give a full-on effort on the road to stay on top. 

Two teams that the Kings are fighting with to make the postseason. Utah has been on a heater recently, winners of four in a row, while the Predators hold the final wild card spot over Los Angeles. Expect this game to be a dogfight, with Utah trying to separate itself from Anaheim and Nashville. 

Expect the Golden Knights to win five in a row since firing their head coach. Vegas is currently tied with Edmonton for the first seed in the Pacific Division, and they certainly wanna make a run to grab the top seed. Meanwhile, Seattle has lost six games in a row and no longer has any desire to win, as they've fallen too far behind in the playoff picture. 

If the Kings want to move into that third seed in the Pacific Division and avoid the Avalanche, they'll root for the Ducks to lose their seventh straight game to the Sharks. But, at the same time, there's a dilemma. If the Sharks win, they will move closer to the Kings; this game will determine whether Kings fans would rather see Colorado or potentially Edmonton or Vegas in the first round of the postseason. 

The Minnesota Wild have already clinched a postseason spot and will face the Dallas Stars in the playoffs. If they want home ice advantage in that first round matchup over the Stars, they'll do everything they can to win this game. 

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