March 29--What we learned from the past week of play in the NHL:
--Four games, four cities, four shutouts -- not a bad stretch for the St. Louis Blues, who have set a franchise record by recording four straight shutouts. They're only the 11th team to do that and fourth since the 1967-68 expansion that doubled the NHL's size to 12 teams.
They began the streak at Vancouver, continued it at San Jose, came home to blank Vancouver again, and on Saturday stymied the Capitals at Washington. Brian Elliott earned three of those shutouts and Jake Allen the other. The Blues next play Tuesday at home against Colorado.
--The Detroit Red Wings' 24-year playoff streak is in serious jeopardy. They're unlikely to overtake Boston for one of the three automatic spots in the Atlantic Division, leaving them to battle with the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers for the two East wild-card spots.
They made things worse with a 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, a performance so bad that they were booed by the fiercely loyal fans at Joe Louis Arena. Even after a 3-2 win over Buffalo on Monday, the Red Wings have a minus-13 goal differential, a statistic that does a lot to explain their predicament.
--Although the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks have been slouching toward the playoffs, they got a boost with back-to-back wins fueled by winger Andrew Ladd. He had three goals and four points as Chicago won at Calgary and Vancouver to clinch a playoff spot.
Ladd has six goals and nine points in 13 games since he was acquired from Winnipeg in late February for a package that included prospect Marko Dano and a first-round draft pick in June. The Blackhawks are 7-9-3 since Feb. 11.
--Knee injuries have taken centers Matt Duchene and Nathan MacKinnon out of Colorado's lineup at a crucial time, pretty much extinguishing the Avalanche's hopes of beating out Minnesota for the second West wild-card berth.
Colorado will face playoff-bound teams in each of its remaining games, while Minnesota has non-playoff opponents in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Calgary.
