NHL: 4 Biggest Races to Be Determined on Season's Final Night

Five games have been played today or are in progress, but that's just a warm-up.

There will be ten games played tonight across the NHL, starting in Washington and ending in San Jose. After the Kings-Sharks game ends, so will the regular season.

But this final night will be anything but a formality.

Well, for the most part. Toronto vs. Montreal, Nashville vs. Colorado and NY Islanders vs. Columbus will be formalities. Except that Eastern Canada will be rowdy, Nashville will look for a momentum-building win, and Rick Nash will probably play his final game in Columbus.

Other than that, every game carries a ton of weight.

4) Steven Stamkos Shoots for No. 60

Evgeni Malkin has already locked up the Hart Trophy, Pavel Datsyuk is called the league's most underrated player 100 times a day, and Sidney Crosby is called the league's best player almost every time someone mentions the "league's best player."

Left out of that is Steven Stamkos, but he belongs at No. 2 in each of those three categories. He's also far and away No. 1 in a category of his own: League's best goal-scorer. He's scored 178 goals over the past three seasons. Alex Ovechkin is second with 119.

But Stamkos is looking to join Ovechkin in an exclusive group: The 60-goal club. The 22 year-old sniper is one goal away from becoming only the 20th player to ever score 60 goals in a season. The only active 60-goal scorers are Ovechkin, Jaromir Jagr and Teemu Selanne.

The Winnipeg Jets will host Tampa Bay tonight, and they will be fired up. Not only do the Jets not want to end the season as the team that gave up No. 60 to Stammer, but they want to end the season with a big home win.

Their first season in Winnipeg has been disappointing, but their home crowd has instantly placed themselves in the running for best league-wide.

It will be an emotional night in Winnipeg no matter what, but it also may be an historic one.

3) Canucks, Blues Battle for 1st Place

The Canucks and Blues are both safely in the playoffs, on top of their respective divisions, and in a top-two spot out west.

Who will finish atop the conference, however, remains to be seen.

The Canucks are currently two points ahead of the Blues. That means that a single point against Edmonton tonight will keep them in first place for good. If the Canucks lose in regulation, the Blues will need a win over Dallas to claim the top spot.

This slight variation in seeding could loom large, although it's unclear who will actually benefit more.

Assuming both teams win their first two series, first place will be enormous. The Blues would give the Canucks a challenge either way, but with home ice advantage, they may be favored.

St. Louis is 30-6-5 at home this year. If they finish behind Vancouver, their chances drop considerably, as they are a pedestrian 18-16-6 on the road.

Now here's where it gets tricky: To even reach the Conference Finals, finishing in second is more desirable.

The fourth and fifth seeds—Nashville and Detroit—will be incredibly tough for the top team to take out in the second round. The third seed—Phoenix, L.A. or San Jose—will be a much better draw.

Given that, both Vancouver and St. Louis want home ice throughout. We won't know who benefited from their seeding more until May or June, but we know that a big part of two teams' playoff fates will be determined—for better or for worse—tonight.

2) Panthers, Capitals Battle for the Southeast Division

The Washington Capitals have had their worst season by far since 2006-07. Yet they still have a chance to win their fifth straight division title on the season's final day.

The Florida Panthers are in a completely different place as a franchise. The team hasn't made the playoffs in 11 years. Even with their best season in a decade, Florida could finish in eighth place tonight.

The Panthers are two points ahead of Washington, but the Capitals own the tiebreaker. This means that a regulation loss for Florida and any win for Washington gives the division to the Caps. If Florida earns one point or Washington squanders one, the Panthers can celebrate again.

Just as these franchises are worlds apart in terms of where they are, they are also worlds apart in terms of what this division title means.

For Washington, it means a mulligan. After a huge offseason made them preseason Cup favorites in the eyes of many, they started the season with seven straight wins. Since then, they've fallen out of the top eight and back in time after time.

But despite playing well below expectations during a 74-game stretch this season, they could still end up where everyone thought they would—in the top three spots of the Eastern Conference. This could give them momentum heading into the playoffs, and we all know that their roster has the talent to beat anybody.

For Florida, a division title means that their first trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2001 could last longer than five games. Finishing in eighth would spell their early doom, as the No. 1 seeded Rangers are vastly superior.

The sixth-seeded Devils are still a slightly better team than Florida, but with home ice advantage the Panthers would certainly have a realistic shot at advancing to the second round.

And luckily for Florida, they play at home vs. Carolina tonight, while Washington plays at MSG.

1) Coyotes, Kings, Sharks Duke It out for Pacific Crown

The Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks will end the regular season in what could be a monumental game for both clubs tonight. If the Phoenix Coyotes lose, the winner of the Kings-Sharks game will win the Pacific Division, and the loser will finish in eighth place.

That means that one of these preseason powerhouses will end up where they expected to end up back in October despite a disappointing season (much like Washington).

For San Jose, that would also mean a fifth straight division title and a realistic chance at a third straight trip to the Western Conference Finals. For L.A., it would mean establishing themselves as the new top team in the Pacific and give them a shot at winning their first playoff series in 11 years.

Sounds eerily like the Panthers-Capitals division race.

However, by puck-drop in San Jose tonight, the game may have lost most of its allure. That would be the case if the Coyotes win in Minnesota, thereby locking up the division title.

Phoenix winning the Pacific would be one of the best stories of the season, as they were a common last-place pick after the loss of Ilya Bryzgalov and Ed Jovanovski.

The team exceeds expectations every season, but will not earn themselves real respect until they win a playoff series. Winning the division may be the only way for them to do that.

Even if that happens, L.A. and San Jose's game won't be completely useless: The winner will finish in seventh and the loser in eighth. Who that benefits or if that matters remains to be seen, but if the teams meet in the Conference Finals a la the 2010 Flyers and Canadiens, tonight's game will still be monumental.