Back Star Arizona is currently four points away from a playoff spot.

The NHL shut down all games on March 12, and since then the corona eruption has only gotten worse in North America. It is difficult to see the end of the crisis and the more time it goes, the more likely it will be that the entire season will not be playable.

By the time the hockey matches stopped, all teams had played at least 68 of the base series's 82 games. There are 189 games left to play.

Thereafter, an endgame will begin which lasts for two months and even in the usual cases, the Stanley Cup Final does not take place until the middle of the summer.

"A fair season"

Another one that is on the same line as Ekman Larsson is Connor McDavid, everyday in Edmonton.

- I want to see a fair season and a fair season is a full season. If it can be solved it would be preferable and I think not only can you go right into the playoffs but have played a game of two months, says the Canadian big star.

- I think it would be good for the playoffs. Getting those games to get started, fixing an endgame and then being ready for the endgame. It would benefit everyone, he continues during a video conference with hockey journalists.

If all matches are to be played, the 2019/20 season can last all summer and a bit into the fall. Two of the league's other star players, on the other hand, are skeptical of playing the entire basic series clearly.

- You have to push in as many matches as you can. But I wouldn't mind starting directly with the playoffs, said Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby when he met with the press at a video conference.

No extra matches

Crosby is supported by Washington star Alex Ovetjkin.

- It is difficult. We do not know when this corona virus is gone. For us, it is better if the playoffs start immediately. We don't want to play a lot of extra games.

It has happened twice in the last 25 years that the NHL has played a shortened season. In 1994/95 and 2012/13, 48 games were played, both times due to lockout during contract conflicts.

Should the basic series end as the table looks now it would have consequences for several Swedish teams around the playoffs.

The New York Rangers have two points up to the playoffs, while Nashville could play on the Stanley Cup at the expense of Vancouver.

The team has the same number of points, but Filip Forsberg and Mattias Ekholm's team get the place with the lowest possible margin, more wins won in ordinary time.

CLIP: Mika Zibanejad guest sport mirror (March 22, 2020)

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Mika Zibanejad: "It feels strange and unreal"