The 2022 NHL trade deadline has come and gone, which means it’s now officially time to switch gears and embrace another kind of chaos: the race to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the Eastern Conference, the stage is pretty much set — there’s a pretty steep drop-off between the Washington Capitals, currently sitting in the second wild-card spot, and the ninth-place Columbus Blue Jackets. Where the top eight teams finish in the standings, however, is still very much up in the air. Meanwhile, in the West, plenty of spots are still to be won and lost — just not the top spot, of course … Colorado’s all but locked that up. This weekend features a pretty stacked lineup of playoff-calibre matchups with post-season implications on the line. Let’s take a look at where things stand ahead of a busy weekend, and zero in on some must-watch matchups to come. Here’s a look at the Eastern Conference standings ahead of this weekend’s action: If the playoffs ended today, these would be our Eastern Con...