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The Los Angeles Kings play their final regular season game tonight, as they face the Anaheim Ducks.
The Kings are coming off a win in their final home game of the regular season on Monday, when they shut out the Vancouver Canucks 3-0. The win snapped the team’s three-game losing skid, as they held the Canucks to just 20 shots total.
Despite being at Game 82 though, there’s still uncertainty about who the Kings are actually going to face in the first round. Essentially, there are at least three games that need to be tracked closely tonight.
Here’s the breakdown of different scenarios:
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In scenario one, if the Kings earn even one point against the Ducks tonight, they clinch third spot in the Pacific Division. They’d then play the second place team in the Pacific: easy enough to follow.
The two games to determine the second place team would be the Vegas Golden Knights versus Seattle Kraken and Edmonton Oilers versus San Jose Sharks. If Vegas gets even a point in the game, they clinch top spot and the Kings would play the Oilers. If the Golden Knights lose in regulation though and the Oilers defeat the Sharks, Edmonton then has the tiebreaker advantage for top spot and the Kings would face Vegas in the first round.
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In scenario two, however, the Kings lose in regulation to the Ducks. If this happens and the Kraken also lose, Los Angeles maintains the third spot in the Pacific. However, if the Seattle Kraken win their game tonight against Vegas, they’d overtake the Kings for the third spot in the Pacific, dropping the Kings to a wildcard spot. This is where things would get a bit more complicated.
No matter who wins the Pacific Division, based on current points and where tiebreakers stand, the top seed in the Western Conference will come from the Pacific Division. What this means is the Kings then would face the top team from the Central as the first place wild card team, which is a whole other storyline to track.
The only two teams who can win the Central are the Dallas Stars (106 points, one game left) and the Colorado Avalanche (105 points, two games left). Both teams play tonight, with the Stars facing the St. Louis Blues and Avalanche hosting the Winnipeg Jets. If the Stars lose their game tonight in regulation, all it will take is Colorado winning one of their last two games to clinch top spot.
If Dallas beats St. Louis, however, it would require the Avalanche to win both of their remaining games to clinch top spot. At that point, Colorado’s final game tomorrow against the Nashville Predators would also come into play, and the Avalanche would need a win there to lock down top spot.
If the Stars lose tonight but earn a point, the Avalanche would then need three points in their last two games to lock up top spot, as they do not hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Stars.
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So in theory, the Kings could still play any of the Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars or Colorado Avalanche. While a win over the Ducks tonight would limit the options to Edmonton and Vegas, which would also be determined tonight, it’s wild how much shifting around has gone on within the conference to allow for things to be up in the air this late.
QuizMaker
OTHER ARTICLES FROM APRIL
Kings end road trip with back-to-back wins, clinch playoff spot
Kings come up short in another key showdown against Oilers
Looking at different playoff scenarios for the Kings after recent slide
Kings at risk of slipping to wild card spot amidst three-game losing streak 
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • 
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