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This one looks like a playoff preview, and maybe it is. Minnesota comes into Dallas at 45-21-12 riding a four-game winning streak, while the Stars sit at 46-20-12 and are trying to hold off the Wild in the Central Division race. Puck drop is set for 9:00 p.m. ET at American Airlines Center on ESPN+, and with both teams already in the postseason mix, this game still matters for seeding, home ice, and a little bit of tone-setting before the bracket locks in. The Wild have looked sharper over the last week. They beat Seattle 5-2 on Tuesday, and before that they handled Ottawa, Vancouver, and Detroit during this run. Dallas is winning too, but it is doing it a

The Nashville Predators head to Salt Lake City on Thursday night for one of the more important games on the Western Conference board. Nashville is 37-32-10 and clinging to the second wild-card spot, while Utah sits at 41-30-6 and holds the first wild card with a little more breathing room. The setting is Delta Center, puck drop is 9:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+, and the standings pressure is obvious for both sides. Nashville closes a six-game road trip here, and it has mostly gone well. The Predators followed an opening loss at Tampa Bay with a 3-0-1 run in their next four games, then blanked Anaheim 5-0 on Tuesday. Utah has been even hotter offensively, winning four straight and scoring

Colorado comes home to Ball Arena on Thursday night with one more regular-season box left to check. The Avalanche have already locked up the Central Division and the No. 1 seed in the West at 51-16-10, but the President’s Trophy is still sitting there. Two more points clinch it. Calgary, meanwhile, is 32-37-9 and already out of the playoff picture, which makes this one feel a little uneven on paper but not automatically simple from a betting angle. There is still a little roster uncertainty here, and that matters. Nazem Kadri is expected to miss time after suffering a finger injury Tuesday against St. Louis, while Cale Makar remains out but is expected back before the regular season ends. Calgary

The Vegas Golden Knights head to Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday night in one of the more interesting late-season spots on the board. Vegas is 36-26-16 and tied on points with Edmonton atop the Pacific, even if the tiebreak math still leaves the Knights looking up for the moment. Seattle, meanwhile, is 32-34-11 and hanging on by a thread in the Western playoff race despite six straight losses. Puck drop is set for 10:00 p.m. ET, and this one matters quite a bit more than a quick standings glance might suggest. Vegas comes in riding a four-game winning streak, and that run has changed the feel around this team in a hurry. Seattle has gone the other way. The Kraken