Teams ready to gear up for NHL’s stretch drive

With so much parity this year, no team is out of the running.

ATLANTA (AP) — Unless you are the Detroit Red Wings, there is plenty of work to be done just to get into the NHL playoffs before thoughts drift to making a run for the Stanley Cup.

As hockey returns today from its four-day All-Star break, teams will be gearing up for the stretch drive that has a little more than 30 games left per club. Parity is prevailing, and virtually no one is out of the running.

The only team that is truly safe is Detroit, which has a 22-point lead in the Central Division, a 17-point edge in the Western Conference, and a 12-point cushion in the chase for the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.

Finishing on top doesn’t ensure postseason success, however. Just ask the Buffalo Sabres, who stormed through the Eastern Conference a year ago but were knocked out in the semifinals by the Ottawa Senators.

“Being first in your conference and playing the eighth seed, you have nothing to win really,” Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson said. “If you lose in the first round, you’re a dog. That’s probably the toughest round.

“Detroit is running away with their conference, for sure, and probably the Presidents’ Trophy. Do they have much to play for down the stretch? You can find pros and cons with pretty much everything.”

The next biggest division lead is in the Northeast, where Ottawa is six points ahead of surprising Montreal.

There are two tied divisional races, and another where first and second place are separated by one skinny point. New York’s Islanders and Rangers are tied for eighth — the postseason cutoff — in the Eastern Conference, 12 points below Ottawa but only nine in front of last-place Tampa Bay.

“It is hectic,” Philadelphia forward Mike Richards said. “Every game counts. I looked at our schedule and we play our last five or six games against our division opponents. Coming down the stretch here, every game is going to be so important.”

Tell that to Pittsburgh, which is a point out of first in the Atlantic, but facing the prospect of being without defending scoring champion Sidney Crosby for several weeks due to his high ankle sprain.

With the trade deadline only a few weeks away, tough decisions whether to be buyers or sellers will have to be made. The Thrashers need to figure out if they can sign Marian Hossa or deal the prospective free agent away.

What makes it more difficult to catch teams are games that go into overtime which award two points to the winner and one to the loser. If a matchup of two teams ahead in the standings is tied after regulation, then a trailing club will lose ground to both.

“There is a lot of points that are going to be up for grabs, especially teams in front of you against your own division,” Staal said. “If you’re sitting and watching and they’re all getting points, it’s no good for you.

“For us, it’s a matter of beating the teams in our division and then getting the teams outside, as well.”

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