from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

In the battle to win the Pacific Division and avoid the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round as a result, San Jose hit a bump Thursday night in a 4-3 home loss to Winnipeg in which Sharks goalie Antti Niemi was not at his best.

The Sharks had a chance to widen their lead over Anaheim to four points, but instead it's just two points with the Ducks holding three games in hand.

We've said it before as a group and it has to be stressed again that getting the top seed and facing a wild card team in the first round, rather than a Cup contender in the Kings, is perhaps the biggest storyline in the NHL down the stretch drive. If the Ducks edge the Sharks by a point or two at the end of the regular season, San Jose may look back at Thursday's game and see two points it should have had.

continue for Burnside on the Wild and Custance and Strang on the Islanders (possible selling)...