Wednesday morning playoff race update

The Stars will head into Wednesday's game five points out of eighth place, which is now held by Calgary. The Flames won 4-2 in Detroit last night to take over the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. A win pulls the Stars to within three points of the final spot, which would be a nice recovery considering how things were looking at the start of the week. But, of course, they've got to win.

Nashville won 2-1 at Atlanta, moving seven points ahead of the Stars and staying two points head of the Flames. This was the first of a four-game road trip for Nashville. They now head to California for games against the Sharks, Ducks and Kings.

Minnesota blew a 2-0 lead to Florida and lost 3-2 in a shootout. The point the Wild picked up leaves them seven points out of eighth. Making up seven points in 17 games isn't easy. Anaheim lost 5-2 to Columbus. The Ducks are now 0-3-1 since the break and have been outscored 16-8 in the four games. Things aren't looking good for them at all.