Western Conference Standings as of April 4

Games of note for April 5:

• Chicago @ Montreal
• Atlanta @ Nashville
• Columbus @ Dallas

As you can see, the Blackhawks have tonight’s game in-hand on the rest of the playoff teams in the Western Conference, and will remain one game ahead of Nashville with their game against the Thrashers tonight.

The new column on the standings – ROW – is for regulation and overtime (non-shootout) wins, which serves as an important tiebreaker. With the Hawks well ahead of both Dallas and Calgary in that category, wins by Columbus and the Blackhawks would essentially end the Stars’ playoff hopes. Two points for the Hawks would also move them past Anaheim into s