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Dateline: April 8/02

If only they had gotten off to a better start in October, played with more commitment on the Christmas road trip or avoided the February losing streak, they could relax now and prepare for the playoffs.

Instead, as many as 12 NHL teams enter the final week of the regular season in a dogfight. This is a playoff race like no other in recent memory, especially in the Western Conference, where five of the eight spots in the postseason bracket are still waiting to be filled and a poor week could send a very good team tumbling into the abyss.

So as the contenders come around the turn for a wild and woolly stretch run, here are a few key elements that will add to the drama of the final week.

The Three-Point Game: When St. Louis played Dallas last Wednesday, the result was the worst possible outcome for their rivals in the Western Conference. The Blues collected two points for winning in overtime and the Stars earned one point for being tied after 60 minutes.

It used to be that only two points were available per game, awarded to the winner or split between the teams in the event of a tie. But in 1999 the NHL decided to award one point for an overtime loss. Fans used to check the scoreboard only to find out who won. Now they check another crucial detail: Did it go into OT?

The Overtime Conundrum: The other fallout of the three-point game is the strategic straightjacket it imposes in some situations.

Consider: Edmonton, Phoenix and Dallas are among the teams fighting to make the playoffs in the West. On Wednesday, Phoenix plays Edmonton and Dallas plays Minnesota. If the Dallas-Minnesota game goes into overtime, the Stars can go all out to score the winning goal. If it backfires and Minnesota wins, so what? The Wild are already eliminated from contention, so an extra point for them does no damage to the Stars' playoff chances.

But if the Oilers and Coyotes go to OT, the stakes are different. Each teams desperately wants the extra point for the win, but they just as desperately want to keep their opponent from picking up that crucial point.

Divisional Follies: With just three games left, the Washington Capitals trail Montreal by five points for eighth place in the East. So the Capitals' season is as good as over, right?

Well, not quite. They still have a slim chance to catch Carolina and finish third.

The Carolina Hurricanes have fewer points than the Canadiens. But that still makes them the best team in the Southeast Division, good enough for third place in the playoff seedings. A senseless quirk in NHL accounting awards the top three spots in each conference to the three division leaders, regardless of where they sit in the overall standings. The winner of the feeble Southeast will sit third in the Eastern Conference with home-ice advantage in the opening round, but will likely be playoff canon fodder for a real contender.

No Sure Things: On a nine-game unbeaten streak and desperate to keep winning, Edmonton should have rolled over the anaemic Mighty Ducks on Friday. But the Oilers were shut out 2-0. The Flyers lost five straight, virtually ceding first place in the East to Boston. But then the Bruins started losing. Anyone facing the powerful Red Wings is in for trouble. Except the Wings, resting some of their top players, are winless in their last four. This might be a good week to avoid your bookie.

Tie-Breakers: If two or more teams finish with the same point total, the team with the most wins will rank higher in the final standings. If they are tied in wins, the best record in games between the tied teams determines the higher seeding. If that doesn't settle the issue, the team with the best goal differential (total goals for versus total goals against) prevails.

Going into the last game of the 1969-70 season, the Montreal Canadiens needed a win, a tie or five goals to leapfrog the Rangers for the final playoff spot in the East. When his team fell behind Chicago 5-2, Montreal coach Claude Ruel knew a win or a tie was unlikely. So in a witless attempt to hit the five-goal mark he pulled his goalie for an extra attacker with over 11 minutes left in the game. The Blackhawks filled the empty net for a 10-2 win and the Canadiens missed the playoffs.

Surely such a bizarre scenario couldn't repeat itself this year... Could it?