FanHouse Fredrik Modin

It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Central Division.

The Chicago Blackhawks are trying to build off a magical season. Columbus got its first taste of playoff hockey, while St. Louis returned to the playoffs after a far-too-long absence. Meanwhile, Nashville is trying to rebound after just missing the cut for the Western Conference playoffs.

Johan Franzen's power-play goal ended Columbus' season Thursday night, and the Blue Jackets aren't taking it very well.

The penalty that gave the Red Wings a late power play happened with 94 seconds left in regulation. Fredrik Modin didn't wait long enough to play a puck as he came off the bench, catching his team with six players on the ice thanks to a slow change. After a rough-and-tumble first 18:30 of the third period, the call didn't sit well with Columbus.

The St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets are the first two teams eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs. The first team knocked out in the East - Montreal - could take a few lessons from how the former two played in their elimination games.

The Blue Jackets went all-in against Detroit Thursday night. They may have dropped a heart-wrenching 6-5 decision, but the way they played won them a lot of respect all around the league, including the opposing dressing room.

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Sharks 5, Bruins 2: In what was the premier matchup of the night, San Jose scored four unanswered goals in the third period on its way to a 5-2 win over the Bruins.

After Milan Michalek gave the Sharks their first lead of the night midway through the third period, Joe Thornton helped burn his former team when he chipped in his 13th goal of the season. Ryane Clowe recorded three assists in the win, while Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves.

It's been a rough stretch for the Minnesota Wild over the past two weeks, and it continued on Sunday as they dropped their fifth in a row -- and sixth in their past seven games -- as they fell to Anaheim, 4-2. During this current losing streak, Minnesota has scored only five goals, and is finding out that it's quite difficult to win every game 1-0.

After overcoming a 2-0 deficit thanks to a pair of goals by Marc-Andre Bergeron and Eric Belanger, the Wild allowed Brendan Morrison and Bobby Ryan to reclaim the lead for the Ducks. From that point on, J.S. Giguere shut the door for Anaheim, as he turned aside 26 shots in the win. The Ducks also received goals from Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, as they won for the third time in their past four games.

Josh Harding received the start in goal for Minnesota, making 30 saves on 34 shots.