NHL Roundup
March 26, 2008

The NHL's regular season is winding down as teams look to lock up berths for the Stanley Cup Playoffs So lets take a quick look at how the playoffs are shaping up as we head down to the wire in the regular season.

Pittsburgh clinches playoffs

Pittsburgh clinched a playoff berth and took a four-point lead in the Atlantic Division with a 2-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves to hand the Devils their fourth consecutive loss. The Penguins join the Sharks, Redwings, and Canadiens who have all clinched berths.

The eliminated teams as of this writing are: St. Louis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, and the NY Islanders

Current Rankings if the season ended today

Eastern Conference     GP W L OTL PTS 1  x-Montreal 77 43 24 10 96 2  x-Pittsburgh 77 44 26 7 95 3  Carolina 77 41 30 6 88 4  New Jersey 76 42 27 7 91 5  Ottawa 77 42 28 7 91 6  NY Rangers 76 39 26 11 89 7  Philadelphia 77 39 28 10 88 8  Boston 76 38 28 10 86   Washington 77 38 31 8 84   Buffalo 76 35 30 11 81   Florida 77 36 32 9 81   Toronto 77 35 32 10 80   e-NY Islanders 77 34 36 7 75   e-Atlanta 77 31 38 8 70   e-Tampa Bay 76 30 38 8 68

Western Conference     GP W L OTL PTS 1  y-Detroit 77 51 20 6 108 2  x-San Jose 76 45 21 10 100 3  Calgary 77 40 27 10 90 4  Anaheim 77 43 26 8 94 5  Dallas 76 42 29 5 89 6  Minnesota 77 40 28 9 89 7  Vancouver 76 38 28 10 86 8  Colorado 77 40 31 6 86   Nashville 77 38 31 8 84   Edmonton 77 39 33 5 83   Chicago 76 36 32 8 80   Phoenix 77 37 34 6 80   Columbus 76 33 32 11 77   e-St. Louis 76 30 34 12 72   e-Los Angeles 76 30 40 6 66

e- eliminated  y- clinched division  x- clinched playoff berth

This is a lot of bubble teams and anything could happen in these last few games, so it should be an interesting run.

Around the League

BLACKHAWKS
On Sunday against the Blues, Blackhawks' rookie defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson posted the first point of his NHL career. He finished the 4-3 win with an assist and a plus-1 rating

BRUINS 
The Associated Press reports Bruins' center Patrice Bergeron has been participating in non-contract drills in recent weeks, and that Bergeron hopes to be back this season sometime. But head coach Claude Julien told the AP the team is not going to activate Bergeron until he is 100 percent healed from a severe concussion.

CANADIENS 
Defenseman Mike Komisarek is expected to miss the rest of the regular season for what the team describes as a lower body injury. He may miss up to three weeks.

PENGUINS 
For the fifth straight start, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury allowed two goals or less for a win. In fact, he stoned the Devils on Tuesday, stopping all 31 shots. Fleury has clearly seized the No. 1 job back in Pittsburgh.

SENATORS 
Forward Chris Kelly has a hairline fracture in his leg and will be on the shelf for a minimum of three weeks.

Ottawa signed undrafted free agent Jesse Winchester to a one-year contract Monday. The 24-year-old completed his college tenure and will now join Binghamton of the AHL

MAPLE LEAFS
Toronto captain Mats Sundin is adamant that he will play again this season, but his groin injury will prevent him from returning to the lineup Tuesday. He is still day-to-day.

Information provided in NHL Roundup has been gathered from A.P. reports, ESPN.com, Sportsline.com, NHL.com and numerous other e-sources. Opinions expressed in NHL Roundup are solely the opinions of the author.

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