West watch

The Jackets didn't get a whole lot of help last night.

The Canucks blew two two-goal leads at home to fall to the Anaheim Ducks 6-5 in a shootout.

The Blues, off the strength of 4 David Backes goals, pulled out a late 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit.

The only help they got was from San Jose who beat Edmonton 2-1 in regulation who is now all but elminated from being able to catch the Jackets who sit 7 points ahead of them with a game in hand.

Here are the current standings:

Team GP W Pts 1. y-San Jose 77 51 113 2. y-Detroit 77 49 107 3. Calgary 77 44 94 4. Vancouver 77 42 94 5. Chicago 76 41 93 6. Columbus 77 40 88 7. Anaheim 78 40 86 8. St. Louis 78 38 85 9. Nashville 77 38 84 10. Minnesota 77 36 81 11. Edmonton 78 36 81 12. Dallas 78 34 78 13. Phoenix 78 34 75 14. Los Angeles 77 31 73 15. Colorado 77 31 64

This is 4 horse race for 3 spots.

The good news is that the Jackets have a game in hand now on both Anaheim and St. Louis as well as still control their own destiny. With the way these teams keep winning though the Jackets cannot rest easy -- this thing could still very well come down to the final home game against Minnesota (if you don't have your tickets yet you better get em!).

One really big game tonight for Jackets fans to keep an eye on and that is Nashville @ Chicago at 8:30 EST.

If you aren't a Blackhawks fan you should be tonight!

That game Saturday is Nashville is looming large.

GO 'HAWKS!!

-LTL