The Golden Knights are running away with the division while a logjam in the middle is being created between San Jose, Calgary, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. The Oilers could be a little closer to a playoff spot, but all these losses to the Buffalo Sabres are adding up.

The Golden Knights had a win against Columbus last week and a loss to the Islanders. They rolled into the All-Star break with a 32-12-4 record, which, if we’re being honest, is probably more wins than we expected them to have in the entirety of their first 82-game season. But here we are, and the Golden Knights have a nine-point lead on top spot in the Pacific Division.

The Sharks dropped back-to-back one-goal games last week leading into the All-Star break. They lost 5-4 to the Jets in overtime and then they lost 6-5 to the Rangers in regulation. It was surprising 11 goals against in two games for a team that’s generally very stingy on defence. Anyways, the Sharks sit in second place in the Pacific at the break, but four teams are within two points of them in the standings.

After a seven-game win streak rocketed them up the standings, the Flames have cooled off. They’ve lost four games in a row, including three last week to Buffalo, Los Angeles, and Edmonton. Thankfully for them, though, all four losses have been in the shootout or overtime, so the Flames have managed four points during the skid. The big issue for Calgary currently is an inability to put the puck in the net, as the Flames have cored just six goals over their four-game losing streak.

The Kings have been scuffling as of late, but since nobody else in the division is playing all that well, they haven’t lost much ground. Los Angeles got pounded 6-2 by Vancouver but beat Calgary 2-1 before the All-Star break. Overall, since the new year, L.A. is just 3-6. They’re having a rough time scoring goals and their goaltending hasn’t been able to bail them out. In better news, Jeff Carter should be back within the next few weeks, which will help jumpstart the Kings offence.

The Ducks had a strong push into the Al–Streak break with back-to-back wins against the Rangers and Jets. Anaheim is now tied with L.A. for fourth in the Pacific and they’re only two points behind San Jose for second. That said, they’ve played 50 games, the most of the teams in that jumbled mess in the middle of the standings.

The Oilers rollercoaster took a massive dip last week when the team got hammered 5-0 at home by the Buffalo Sabres. Soon after, though, it worked its way back up, as Edmonton rallied for a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames in a shootout. The Oilers are 11 points out of a playoff spot at this point, and even though they have a lot of inter-division games left, it’s an absolutely massive task for them to jump over three of L.A., Anaheim, Calgary, and San Jose.

The Canucks had a win over L.A. and a loss to Buffalo (who inexplicably swept Western Canada), but at this point, they’re well out of the race. The few weeks without Bo Horvat in the lineup pretty much sewered Vancouver’s very low playoff odds, so the focus shifts to the trade deadline in Vancouver.

 The Coyotes beat the Islanders and lost to the Blue Jackets last week. The loss against Columbus represented their first game without recording a point since Jan. 12, a streak of five games. That doesn’t sound like much, but the Coyotes only have 33 points, so it was a pretty incredible stretch for them.