^Yes. Of the four, it seems very likely to me that LA makes it. One of the teams that needs to go 10-8ish will falter and go under .500 down the stretch. That's just Nostradamus talk though really, even though it's an informed guess.
Can't find it but someone actually did the math last season and found that NHL coaches by and large were too conservative about the timing of goalie pulls - down 1, the ideal time to pull the keeper is with ~2 minutes left (longer when down 2), and most coaches would wait until less than 1:30 to go. That seems to have trended this year more towards the 2 minute mark.
The issue I have is pulling the goalie when you have a late power play for the 6-on-4. Because of the freedom to ice the puck and the adjustment to your normal power play formation I would say just leave the G in, and pull him once the PP expires. I have no statistical proof but my intuitive sense is that overall scoring rate doesn't increase dramatically between 5-on-4 and 6-on-4.
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