Sharks play Columbus tonight at home, after beating Phoenix badly last night. Ordinarily, this would look like a trap game, because Columbus is 12th in the west, the Sharks are playing back-to-backs, and play a much better team in Colorado on Sunday

But I think the Sharks won’t take this game lightly. We need to continue to accumulate points, given that both Dallas and Anaheim are still winning. Also, the Sharks were embarrased and shut own when they last played the Blue Jackets, on 2/16. Plus, CLS just beat Anaheim in OT a few nights ago, so they’ve been a bit of the giant killers.

The toughest game in the next upcoming stretch will definitely be Thursday at Atlanta, after having to play Chicago in the Midwestern time zone the night before.

I think Anaheim is pretty much out of reach at this point, so Dallas is the really the one we’re in the dogfight with. Looking at the Stars’ schedule the rest of the year, they have to play Nashville twice, Anaheim twice, and Detroit. But they also get to play Phoenix three times, in less than two weeks no less. I’d rate our schedule slightly easier. At this point, we’re dead even in terms of points, so as long as we play one point better than them, we’ll probably get the 5th spot. Then we get the privilege of playing Nashville or Detroit in the first round. Hmm, maybe we should just lay back a bit and take Vancouver. Either way we’re in for a ridiculously tough matchup.

Just look at the east 3 through 6- Atlanta, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay. I’d say at this point, any 3-6 West team against any one of those teams would be a big favorite. This sucks.