Winners & Losers: Jets all but done; Wings clinch 21st straight berth

The Winnipeg Jets' playoff hopes are all but finished after a loss to the Senators while the Red Wings are playoff bound for a 21st straight season.

By Brian Stubits

Mar 27, 2012 at 12:11 am ET • 6 min read

Detroit confirms their birthright ... a playoff berth. (Getty Images)

There's always a Winner and a Loser in the NHL, and this is a new nightly look at some of the winners and losers in the biggest games and biggest situations across the league.

Monday's scoreboard

Winners

Detroit Red Wings: Oh boy, were they ever winners on Monday night.

They soundly beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 7-2, building a four-goal lead in less than 10 minutes to open the game. It means that for the moment the regain the fourth seed in the West ahead of the Predators.

But the bigger story is that they clinched a playoff berth. Remember those old Pepsi Max ads from the 90s, Been there, done that? Watch that and see how old that looks. Now consider the Red Wings' playoff streak goes back further than that commercial. Every season since 1990-91 the Wings have made the playoffs, that's 21 straight appearances.

Why this team gets such little love in the dynasty talk across sports is beyond me. They have hoisted the Stanley Cup 20 percent of the time since this streak began in 1991. Oh, that's right, they play hockey. Otherwise, they have a few things on the Yankees, Patriots and Lakers of recent years.

And if somebody would let the Blue Jackets know they already sealed the worst record in the league this season and no longer need to tank, I'm sure the people of Columbus would be grateful.

[Related: Red Wings 7, Blue Jackets 2]

San Jose Sharks: It's been a while. It feels like it's been a long while. But the Sharks are back in their familiar spot as the Pacific Division leaders. And it's not by any tie-breakers either, they are in sole possession of it after a 5-1 win over the desperate Avalanche .

To show how crazy the Pacific has been, the Sharks are the third different team to hold first in the division in the past four days. Still, they are only two points up on the fourth-place Kings.

If you're a Sharks fan, you have to be feeling a lot better right about now. The Sharks looked about as good as they have in some time in the win over the Avs. It finished off a perfect homestand, too, beating the Bruins and Coyotes at the Tank in the last week.

For Colorado, it's close to a death blow. They only have four games remaining on their season and while they are only one point out of a playoff spot, with the plethora of teams in the mix, it's very difficult to make up ground when everybody has more chances to pick up points.

[Related: Sharks 5, Avalanche 1]

NHL Playoffs

More NHL coverage

Latest news | Twitter| Facebook

Calgary Flames: It was a basically a must-win game for the Flames . They have been that team stuck at the bottom of the logjam in the West, making their attempt at a climb into the postseason that much tougher with so many teams to pass. So when you get your shot against one of those teams ahead of you, you have to cash in.

They did just that by holding home ice and beating the Dallas Stars despite falling behind in the first 30 seconds of the game. The goals came pouring in, and the Flames need each of them, holding off the Stars for a 5-4 win.

The Flames remain in 11th place after the win, but it keeps them within two points of two points of a playoff spot, one of those belonging to the Stars. Beyond that, it's too hard to see through the murkiness and play out the numbers scenarios, so it was just critical to their hopes to get the two points and move on.

They keep hope alive for Canada to get three teams into the postseason. Right now only the Canucks and Senators are in position.

Losers

Winnipeg Jets: They aren't mathematically eliminated yet, but you can say goodbye to the Jets' playoff chances this season.

Hosting the Senators , one of the teams that was just about in play for the Jets to reach, especially with a win on Monday, the Jets just couldn't keep the Senators off the board. The end result was a 6-4 loss. With how bad they have been on the road, there was no room for error on home ice.

Now they are guaranteed to be six points back of a playoff spot by the end of tomorrow and they only have six games left to play, four away from home. So yea, it's less than unlikely they'll be seeing the postseason this go-round.

It's too bad, too. The Jets have arguably been the best story of the season in the NHL. Everybody was eager to see what MTS Centre would look (and sound) like when the games were actually in the playoffs. But all in all, this is a small let down in Winnipeg, not a big one. After all, they have the NHL back in town.

[Related: Senators 6, Jets 4]

Los Angeles Kings: That looked like the Kings of before the trade deadline.

Jonathan Quick did just about all that he could to give the Kings a win, but they couldn't make his one-goal against stand up. Instead they were blanked by Roberto Luongo and the Canucks in Vancouver 1-0. Quick has been on the wrong end of that score four times now this season (and Jonathan Bernier once). It was the 10th time this season the Kings were shut out. Ouch.

Because of the Stars' loss, the Kings actually had the chance to take over the Pacific Division lead by night's end. Instead they are going to be fourth place and out of a playoff spot completely. Granted, it's the Pacific and West, so that doesn't say too much, but with so few games left, they are all getting magnified.

With their win, the Canucks keep the pressure up on the Blues in the race for the No. 1 seed in the West. It was also their third win in three games without Daniel Sedin.

Philadelphia Flyers: The Flyers went into a home game against one of the worst teams in the league in the Lightning with a chance to move three points behind the Rangers (and two behind the Penguins) for the best record in the East.

Oops.

Once again, the Flyers fell into an early 0-2 hole and were able to come back to erase the deficit but couldn't pull any points out in the end. Despite only 15 shots on goal (including one on the empty net), they gave up five goals. That's not a very good save percentage.

On top of it, Ilya Bryzgalov was seen by the Philly media limping around a bit after the game. Might be time to give him a little rest before the playoffs get started.