Two teams still on the outskirts of the Western Conference playoff picture will collide when the Nashville Predators host the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.

The Predators (38-32-10, 86 points) trail the Los Angeles Kings by one point for the second wild card in the West with two games remaining. The Kings have played one fewer game, but should they finish tied, the Predators would hold the first tiebreaker of regulation wins (currently 28-21).

The Sharks (37-34-8, 82 points) are still alive in the wild-card race, but just barely. They would need to win their final three games and get a lot of help.

San Jose saw its playoff hopes damaged by a six-game losing streak (0-5-1) in March. It rebounded with four straight wins but has lost three straight (0-2-1).

On Saturday, the Predators kept pace with a 2-1 home win against the Minnesota Wild. Steven Stamkos scored his 40th goal of the season and had an assist. Matthew Wood also scored, and Justus Annunen made 21 saves.

The Predators are 4-1-1 in their past six games as they continue their push.

“It’s fun playing these meaningful games,” Stamkos said. “It sucks we let it kind of slip out of our control, but all we can focus on now is the next two. We’re fortunate they’re at home.”

Nashville hosts Anaheim in its season finale Thursday.

Stamkos reached the 40-goal mark for the second time in three seasons and the eighth time in his 18-year career.

“Obviously, the goal-scoring is what you’re seeing, but everything else, he’s such an amazing leader on our team,” Predators captain Roman Josi said. “It’s just so cool to have a guy like him on the team where you know in big games he’s taking charge.”

Josi returned after missing one game because of an upper-body injury. He played 27:10 and had three shots on goal.

Meanwhile, San Jose led Vancouver late in the third period Saturday, but the Canucks tied it with three minutes remaining and won it in a shootout, 4-3.

Igor Chernyshov scored twice for the Sharks, and Yaroslav Askarov made 38 saves.

“Just some of our details, I would say, is the biggest thing,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, “Details in our D zone … In previous games, there were some other issues.”

Macklin Celebrini had two assists to reach 110 points (42 goals, 68 assists). He recorded his 29th multi-point game of the season, the fourth-most in a single season in San Jose franchise history.

Regardless of how the season ends, the Sharks will have turned things around after finishing 20-50-12 a year ago.

“Nobody expected us to be in this position we’re in, except all of us,” Celebrini said.

The Sharks finish with games at Chicago on Wednesday and Winnipeg on Thursday.

All three of the games in these teams’ season series have come since March 24. Filip Forsberg had a goal and two assists to help the Predators to a 6-3 home win that night. On April 4, the Predators lost a 3-0 lead at San Jose. However, Ryan O’Reilly broke the tie in the third, and Nashville prevailed 6-3. Forsberg scored twice.

–Field Level Media

The Dallas Stars will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night knowing where they stand entering the playoffs.

The Stars (48-20-12, 108 points) clinched the No. 2 seed in the Central Division Saturday with a 2-0 home victory over the New York Rangers.

Their third consecutive win has assured them home-ice advantage in their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Minnesota Wild.

“We’ve played in a couple of Game 7s in the last couple of years, and you just feel that much more confident when you’re playing it at home,” Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said. “If it were to get to that point, then it’s important for us. You start at home, and you feel like you get off to a good start and let your crowd get into it early. We know this place is going to be rocking, so we can’t wait for next weekend.”

The Maple Leafs (32-34-14, 78 points) accepted a 6-2 home loss Saturday to the Florida Panthers in a game between teams already eliminated from playoff contention.

The Panthers eliminated the Maple Leafs in a seven-game playoff series last season on their way to winning their second straight Stanley Cup championship. This season, the teams are jockeying for draft position.

“It’s tough for both teams,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “I wouldn’t have thought that (both would miss the playoffs). But circumstances — injuries, and a lot of things — play into it. I don’t need to sit here and explain them all. But that is the way it goes sometimes in this league. It just shows the parity in this league. You can’t take a breath. There are no easy teams.”

The Maple Leafs fell behind 3-0 against the Panthers before William Nylander scored his 27th and 28th goals to cut the lead to 3-2 after two periods. Two of Florida’s three-third period goals were into an empty net. Toronto has lost five straight (0-4-1).

“All these games are weird when you’re out of the playoffs,” Nylander said. “As of late, I think we’ve been competing good, but tonight, I think they were competing better than us.”

Goaltending is a key in the playoffs, and Oettinger was strong against the Rangers, stopping 22 shots to earn his fourth shutout of the season.

“It’s tough to get shutouts. It takes the whole team, and a lot of guys did a lot of great stuff for me there,” Oettinger said.

After allowing three power play goals in a 5-4 win over the Wild on Thursday, the Stars blanked the Rangers on all five of their power play attempts on Saturday.

“I thought our penalty kill was excellent,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I thought we got better as the game went on. I thought (Oettinger) was really solid. There’s lots of things I liked. We come in the third and keep pushing, and the power play gets one. It’s not easy this time of year, all the games are tough.”

The Stars won their final home game of the regular season when Jason Robertson scored his 43rd and 44th goals in the third period, one into an empty net.

“We don’t score easy,” Gulutzan said. “We grind to score. We’re playing a little bit of a stingier brand of hockey that we’re willing to stay with, and usually that is the way it goes in the playoffs. Hopefully that benefits us.”

The Stars previously defeated the Maple Leafs 5-1 on Dec. 21.

–Field Level Media