Game Day No. 61

The most important thing heading into tonight is that the Bucks' magic number to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Southern Conference is down to three points.

That means with a win tonight and anything but a regulation loss in one of their three remaining games, the Bucks can clinch that seed without any help from the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.

The Bucks (33-22-5, 71 points) are six points up on the Killer Bees (32-24-5, 65 pts.) with four games to play (three for the Killer Bees), but as previously noted, they need to have more wins than the Killer Bees if points end up tied, so getting three points and moving up to 74, which is unattainable for the Killer Bees, is the easiest means to the end the Bucks want.

On the other side of things, the IceRays could knock the Arizona Sundogs out of contention for the conference's fifth spot with a win of their own tonight, as they would reach 28-29-5 (61 pts.), meaning the best the Sundogs (26-31-5, 57 pts. with two games to play) could do would be tie them but then lose the tiebreaker due to the IceRays thus having more regulation wins.

The New Mexico Scorpions (26-32-3, 55 pts. with three games to play) would still have a small chance of taking that spot away if the IceRays win tonight but lose their last two games and the Scorpions win out, which would leave them with the same number of points as the IceRays but more regulation wins.

Greg Rajan has more on all that and the other ways the IceRays could reach the postseason.

Tonight is also a chance for Coach Ruskowski to move to career coaching win No. 499, which could mean No. 500 will come at home during the two-game series with the Texas Brahmas this week.

You can read Bryan Benway's preview, Greg's preview for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Pointstreak pre-game notes for more info on tonight's game, which I will try to live blog.

And now, some long overdue scores, mostly for my own peace of mind...

CHL Scores from Saturday, March 7: Gorillas 5, Rage 2; RiverKings 6, Mudbugs 2; Brahmas 5, Jackalopes 3; Blazers 4, Scorpions 3 (SO); Oilers 6, Thunder 5; Killer Bees 4, Sundogs 3 (SO); Eagles 6, Rush 5.

NHL Scores from Saturday, March 7: Bruins 5, Blackhawks 3; Islanders 7, Devils 3; Kings 4, Wild 3; Panthers 5, Blues 3; Blue Jackets 8, Red Wings 2; Oilers 4, Maple Leafs 1; Flyers 4, Predators 1; Senators 6, Sabres 3; Hurricanes 9, Lightning 3; Canucks 3, Sharks 1.

CHL Scores from Sunday, March 8: IceRays 4, Bucks 1; Jackalopes 3, RiverKings 2.

NHL Scores from Sunday, March 8: Rangers 4, Bruins 3; Penguins 4, Capitals 3 (SO); Avalanche 5, Blackhawks 1; Thrashers 5, Flames 2; Islanders 3, Coyotes 2; Canadiens 3, Stars 1; Wild 3, Ducks 2.

NHL Scores from Monday, March 9: Hurricanes 3, Rangers 0; Senators 2, Maple Leafs 1; Kings 3, Canucks 2.

CHL Scores from Tuesday, March 10: Killer Bees 2, Bucks 1; Mudbugs 2, Brahmas 1; Blazers 3, Oilers 2.

NHL Scores from Tuesday, March 10: Blue Jackets 2, Bruins 0; Flyers 5, Sabres 2; Devils 3, Flames 2; Canadiens 4, Oilers 3 (OT); Penguins 4, Panthers 3 (SO); Maple Leafs 3, Islanders 2 (OT); Red Wings 3, Coyotes 2 (OT); Capitals 2, Predators 1 (OT); Sharks 5, Wild 4 (OT); Blues 5, Stars 2; Thrashers 3, Avalanche 0.

CHL Score from Wednesday, March 11: Sundogs 3, Gorillas 2.

NHL Scores from Wednesday, March 11: Senators 3, Lightning 2 (OT); Blackhawks 3, Hurricanes 2 (SO); Ducks 4, Canucks 3 (OT).

CHL Score from Thursday, March 12: Jackalopes 7, IceRays 5.

NHL Scores from Thursday, March 12: Sabres 3, Panthers 1; Blue Jackets 4, Penguins 3 (SO); Devils 5, Coyotes 2; Bruins 5, Senators 3; Capitals 2, Flyers 1; Flames 6, Red Wings 5 (SO); Islanders 3, Canadiens 2 (OT); Lightning 4, Maple Leafs 1; Rangers 4, Predators 2; Blues 3, Sharks 1; Stars 3, Hurricanes 2; Avalanche 2, Wild 1 (SO); Thrashers 4, Oilers 3 (OT).

CHL Scores from Friday, March 13: Bucks 6, Gorillas 1; IceRays 1, Killer Bees 0; RiverKings 3, Mudbugs 2; Brahmas 5, Thunder 2; Sundogs 5, Scorpions 3; Rush 3, Oilers 2; Eagles 7, Rage 3.

NHL Scores from Friday, March 13: Blue Jackets 5, Blackhawks 3; Canucks 4, Kings 2.

CHL Scores from Saturday, March 14: IceRays 4, Killer Bees 1; RiverKings 3, Mudbugs 2; Bucks 2, Brahmas 0; Jackalopes 7, Thunder 3; Eagles 9, Gorillas 0; Blazers 3, Rush 2 (SO); Oilers 6, Rage 5 (OT); Scorpions 3, Sundogs 1.

NHL Scores from Saturday, March 14: Flyers 4, Rangers 2; Bruins 2, Islanders 1; Red Wings 5, Blues 2; Senators 4, Penguins 3 (SO); Maple Leafs 8, Flames 6; Thrashers 4, Sabres 3 (SO); Capitals 5, Hurricanes 4 (SO); Devils 3, Canadiens 1; Lightning 4, Panthers 3 (SO); Stars 3, Wild 2 (OT); Predators 2, Coyotes 0; Avalanche 3, Oilers 2 (OT); Sharks 2, Kings 1 (OT).

Yesterday's CHL Scores: Jackalopes 5, Gorillas 2; Killer Bees 5, Mudbugs 3; Scorpions 2, Oilers 1; Brahmas 3, Thunder 1; Eagles 3, Blazers 0.

Yesterday's NHL Scores: Rangers 4, Flyers 1; Penguins 6, Bruins 4; Islanders 4, Blackhawks 2; Red Wings 4, Blue Jackets 0; Blues 5, Wild 3; Sharks 1, Ducks 0; Canucks 4, Avalanche 0.