Getty ImagesSince we're down to the final moments of postseason life for teams in contention, Puck Daddy solemnly begins a daily countdown to annihilation.

Fare thee well, Florida Panthers. Their tragic number hit zero on Saturday night according to the NHL, making the defending Southeast Division champions the first team to be eliminated from playoff contention this season.

On the other end of the spectrum: How about those Dallas Stars, huh?

The Stars jumped Detroit into the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference with 45 points and the tie-breaker, as both teams have seven games remaining.

Writes Mike Heika:

The Stars on Saturday were like Hercules visiting the Temple of Zeus, like Rapunzel getting a glimpse of that tile portrait. They still have many, many battles to fight. We estimated at the trade deadline that 54 points would be needed to get into the playoffs, that a 9-2-1 record was necessary down the stretch. This five-game winning streak makes that a 4-2-1 record now.

Is that reachable? Can they keep this up against Chicago and Vancouver and St. Louis and Los Angeles and San Jose and Columbus and Detroit? Could they even dream of moving into seventh place for a first-round playoff match-up with the Ducks? What if they really pull this off and become the hottest team in the NHL? What if they really make some noise in the playoffs?

Luckily for Dallas, they’ve never had a shot at the playoffs and blown it late in the season. Oh … right.

Coming up, the playoff pictures for the East and West, as we shift the focus to playoff seeding. The full NHL standings and schedules can be found on Y! Sports.

Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks is many things: Superstar, rapper, lover, partier, shootout god and potential MVP.

Apparently we can add “amateur mohel” to the list after he accidentally (?) kicked Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson in the how-do-you-do on Friday night.

No sir, that doesn’t tickle. Ericsson didn’t miss a shift, and luckily isn’t missing anything else.

As for Kane … well, we can’t go as far as to say this was an involuntary move, but it was probably one in which he wasn’t targeting Ericsson’s, er, downtown Detroit. Hey, at best maybe Kane has finally figured out a way to get some separation for forwards in the attacking zone. While at the same time giving the Red Wings Glee Club a new soprano.

This is a highlight we’d like to see played when Kane wins the Lady Byng this season. Without question, his nuttiest play of the season.

Getty ImagesSince we're down to the final moments of postseason life for teams in contention, Puck Daddy solemnly begins a daily countdown to annihilation.

The Dallas Stars’ 5-2 at Nashville dropped the Predators’ playoff chances to nil and their tragic number to five.

Conversely, it gave Dallas a strong playoff heartbeat with eight games remaining.

The Stars now have 43 points, tied with Phoenix and two in back of the No. 8-seeded Detroit Red Wings.

They didn’t play well, writes Mike Heika, but they got it done vs. Nashville:

Bottom line, the Stars did what they had to do Friday. They pushed the dream forward and won their fourth straight game. They made Saturday’s contest vs. San Jose that much more important. The Sharks have a 21-12-7 record, good for 49 points, so the Stars probably aren’t going to catch them. But they can catch somebody if they keep winning.

The Stars are 20-17-3, good for 43 points. They are two points behind eighth place Detroit with one game in hand. They have a one-game lead on the first tiebreaker (Regulation or Overtime Wins). They are sitting pretty.

Coming up, the playoff pictures for the East and West, as we shift the focus to playoff seeding. The full NHL standings and schedules can be found on Y! Sports.

Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Yes, that would be a “Parros Mustache” chant at the Winnipeg Jets’ win over the Florida Panthers. Because Jets fans are the best. And because George Parros is the greatest, his response: “I guess if I'm going to break the 1,000 PIM barrier it may as well be to a sold out crowd yelling at my moustache.” [Reddit, via Eye on Hockey]

• Bill Daly’s statement on NHL meetings with the IOC over Sochi: “We had a good working session and were able to discuss all of the issues involved in the possibility of having NHL Players participate in the 2014 Sochi Games. The parties are committed to continuing to work through the process, but there remains work to be done on all sides.”

• NHL.com names Ken Holland as the NHL’s best GM, who must have enjoyed reading this news while resting on his laurels. [NHL.com]

• Kari Lehtonen is a big fat maybe for Saturday night’s game for the Dallas Stars. [Stars Blog]

• Cam Charron on the Norris case for P.K. Subban: “I’d probably lean Chara at this point. Boston and Montreal are probably the two best teams in the Conference (sorry Pittsburgh) and I hope they get a playoff series against one another. And no, I don’t think Dillon or Brodin are better than Subban. I just think that more than points should determine a Norris Trophy, and that you can fiddle around with usage metrics to find other players that are out-performing their expectations.” [Backhand Shelf]

• Steve Ott on his licking Jeff Halpern’s visor: “I don’t know what you’re talking about [maniacal cackle].” [PHT]

It’s a 7-2 game in the third period. The Florida Panthers are losing to the Winnipeg Jets on the road, as their tragic number continues to plummet towards elimination. The fans are doing to wave. It’s garbage time.

What’s a Fox Sports Florida announcing crew to do? Well, if you’re Steve Goldstein and Bill Lindsay, you go a little insane and begin listing Winnipeg fun facts, giving the history of Winnie The Pooh and talking about Slurpees, apparently.

Really, it was that moment when they continues to talk about how much sun Winnipeg gets in the winter through a stoppage in play when you realized they’ve cashed in their chips.

And the Slurpee capital of the world? Who knew!?

“Will you buy me a Slurpee after the game?”

“I will buy you a Slurpee. They got better Slurpees. They know their ice here in Canada.”

Classic.

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Getty ImagesThe nightmarish season for Tyler Myers of the Buffalo Sabres has ended in a nightmarish way: With one of his equine legs breaking in a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

From the Sabres:

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier today announced that defenseman Tyler Myers suffered a broken bone in his leg during Thursday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens and will miss the remainder of the 2012-13 season.

The 23-year-old Myers is second in the Sabres in ice time with 21:18 TOI per game, but was limited to 8 points in 39 games and a minus-8. He was a healthy scratch twice. It was not a fun time.

Bill Hoppe believe that a P.K. Subban shot that Myers blocked may have broken his leg.

The last postgame quote from Myers after the Montreal loss spoke volumes. From Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat:

“It really comes down to this,” said Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, who played his 256^th NHL game Thursday. “We lost every single battle. It was the worst effort the Buffalo Sabres have put on the ice since I’ve been a part of it.”

So say we all.

Getty ImagesSince we're down to the final moments of postseason life for teams in contention, Puck Daddy solemnly begins a daily countdown to annihilation.

The Winnipeg Jets routed the Florida Panthers on Thursday night, 7-2, tying the idle Rangers with 44 points and keeping two points in back of the Washington Capitals for the Southeast lead.

Said Evander Kane to the Winnipeg Free Press:

"We might have been talking about it but we’ve been doing it," Jets left-winger Evander Kane said after two goals against the Panthers.

"That’s the difference from maybe those five games on the losing streak. Now we’re on a bit of a winning streak. Instead of talking, we’re just going out and doing it and I think it’s good to see."

Alas, the Jets only have six games remaining while Washington has seven and the Rangers have eight. Thus the Tragic Number for Winnipeg remains 12 points lost by the Jets or gained by the No. 8 seed.

Coming up, the playoff pictures for the East and West, as we shift the focus to playoff seeding.

The full NHL standings and schedules can be found on Y! Sports.