DENVER - Carve an extra piece of turkey to celebrate, David Backes and T.J. Oshie, because St. Louis is well on its way to the post-season. Treat yourself to another slice of pumpkin pie, Max Pacioretty, since Montreals virtually in, too.At least, the numbers seem to suggest as much.Since the 2005-06 season, NHL teams in post-season position entering the American Thanksgiving holiday have gone on to make the Stanley Cup playoffs 77.3 per cent of the time, according to STATS.So enjoy a heaping helping of mashed potatoes and gravy, Cam Fowler, because Anaheim is in prime position as the Ducks lead the Western Conference. After all, the top three teams in each conference on turkey day make the field nearly 90 per cent of the time.Just dont mention those figures to players, because it is too early to think about playoffs, Washington forward Troy Brouwer said.Its November.Fair enough, but what these numbers illustrate is that a fast start does, indeed, set up a team for success — or the lack of it.A quick start to a season may be even more beneficial in basketball, though. An NBA team in post-season position by Christmas — thats slightly more games than an NHL squad plays by Thanksgiving — goes on to make the playoffs 84.4 per cent of the time since 05-06, according to STATS.Translation: Be good by the holidays or say goodbye to the post-season.I dont believe you can make the playoffs in the first 20 games. But I do believe you can miss the playoffs in the first 20 games, said Eddie Olczyk, an NBC hockey analyst whos also a former player and coach.So if that Thanksgiving stat holds true, come April, these will be your Eastern Conference playoff representatives: Montreal, Pittsburgh, New York Islanders, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Washington, Boston and Toronto.In the Western Conference, it would be: Anaheim, Nashville, Vancouver, St. Louis, Calgary, Chicago, Los Angeles and Winnipeg.Most noticeably absent? Philadelphia and the New York Rangers in the East, along with Colorado in the West.All three have some work to do to get back to the playoff stage. Then again, the Flyers werent in the post-season picture last Thanksgiving, only to rally late behind the play of Claude Giroux.No reason to panic, though. Most teams have barely played a quarter of their schedule.I would never think that people should count us out, Avalanche defenceman Zach Redmond said.The teams seeded in the top three at the moment are definitely in solid shape. That would be you, Canadiens, Penguins and Islanders (Lightning in the mix as well). And also you, Ducks, Predators and Canucks (Blues and Flames are right there, too).Only five teams seeded in the top-three at Thanksgiving have failed to make the post-season over the past eight seasons (2012-13 didnt get rolling until January). The last to do so was Minnesota in 11-12, in research provided by STATS.Heres a reason why its so difficult to jump over teams: The NHLs three-point system. A winner of a game receives two points, but if the loser happens to get beaten in overtime or in a shootout, it still gains a point.Olczyk isnt a big fan of that system, believing, if you win, you should get the whole ball of wax. If you lose, you get nothing.His logic is this: A team can go 1-5-4 in a 10-game stretch, but still pick up six points. In any other league, that would be a 1-9 skid and bury a team in the standings.It gets so exhausting when people in January and February talk about, Oh, I cant believe how close the race is, Olczyk said. Well, hold on a second. Why is it so hard to believe? A good percentage of the games have three points being given out. The races should be close. Nobody should be surprised how close it is.The deeper into the season races go, the more conservative teams may play, just to secure at least a point.Playing life and death (hockey) when youre trying to make the playoffs at the end of the season can be taxing, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. Certainly we dont want to be in a position of playing life and death (hockey) to try to get in at games 80, 81 and 82.Not that the Blackhawks have anything to worry about — theyre a virtual cinch to be in. At least, according to the numbers.On the flip side, a team like Colorado is in post-season jeopardy, if you placed stock in those stats.Ive never been a huge believer in stats, Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog said. Its a long season and theres a lot of hockey left.___AP freelance writer Dale Bublitz contributed. Dre Mont Jones Jersey . Here at TSN.ca we will take a look back at the season by bringing together a panel of experts to help pick the best 50 players of the season. Von Miller Youth Jersey . Less than 24 hours later, in the same arena, he tried to recreate the magic of his all-time favourite player. Hilliard scored a career-high 26 points and No. http://www.thebroncosstoreonline.com/You...roncos-Jerseys/. Nick Young scored 17 points for Los Angeles, which lost five of its last seven before trouncing the Pelicans, who beat them handily last week in New Orleans. Jodie Meeks and Xavier Henry scored 15 points apiece for the Lakers, who led by 20 points in the first half before coasting to their 12th win in their last 13 regular-season meetings with New Orleans. Drew Lock Youth Jersey . With the Canadiens leading by one to start the third period, Price turned away 16 shots by the Panthers in the final frame to give Montreal a 2-1 victory over Florida on Monday night. The Panthers (16-21-6) outshot Montreal 16-10 in the final frame, but were repeatedly frustrated by Price, who made 26 saves on the night. Dre Mont Jones Youth Jersey . With the Pirates in the thick of the race in the NL Central, the timing couldnt be better. Liriano struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season and Pittsburgh beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night.TORONTO - Given the conditions, Toronto FC manager Ryan Nelsen said the game would be decided by "a scrappy goal or a moment of quality." Unfortunately Colorado (3-1-1) scored the scrappy goal while Toronto midfielder Kyle Bekker came oh so close to two late moments of brilliance Saturday. "To tell you the truth, in the second half I thought there was only going to be one team that was going to win that game," said Nelsen. "The cruelty of football isnt it when you hit the post and 30 seconds later they score at the other end." Former Toronto forward Edson Buddle decided the game with his 99th career MLS goal, from close range in the 77th minute, as the visiting Rapids edged an injury-ridden Toronto side 1-0 before an announced sellout of 22,591. Colorado, which had been on its heels earlier in the second half, took advantage of a Toronto defensive letdown to secure the three points. Toronto (3-2-0) was without five starters including star striker Jermain Defoe (hamstring) and midfielder Michael Bradley (quadricep and groin), whose combined salaries are almost US$13 million this season. Also missing were midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Alvaro Rey (both hamstrings) and central defender Doneil Henry (knee). "I think their depth was tested today," said Colorado defender Drew Moor. "Id be lying if I said when we saw the team sheet that it didnt make us a little more hungry." While Nelsen wanted to talk about those players who were on the pitch rather than the ones missing, he couldnt resist point out that any team would struggle without "five very influential players." "Especially a young team like us." Adding to Torontos woes was the fact that attacking midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, who was subbed out in the 67th minute, was walking with a limp after the game with what Nelsen called a muscle injury. Toronto plays in Dallas next weekend and then has a bye to regroup. The club could well opt to have some of the injured players skip the Dallas game to give them more time to recover. Bradley had been a question-mark for Saturday and failed to recover in time. Nelsen said Bradley faced being out for "several weeks, pushing on months" if he had played and aggravated his injuries. The star midfielder played for both the U.S and Toronto last week, with his body paying the price. Colorado was missing leading scorer Vicente Sanchez, who did not make the trip because his wife is expecting their first child. The drab game reflected the conditions: grey skies and a stiff wind blowing on a bumpy pitch. "There was only a few spells of decent soccer being played out there," said Colorado coach Pablo Mastroeni. "The rest of it was grit, rolling up your sleeves, second balls and battles. Thats what I said to the guys going in. This game is not going to be about soccer, its going to be about determination and will and fight and getting those second balls and shieldding and putting balls in dangerous spots.dddddddddddd" That is exactly how the goal happened. Austrian defender Thomas Piermayr found Dillon Serna in the penalty box with a long ball from the right flank, Serna drove it back into the box, Deshorn Brown got his head to it and the ball found its way back to Serna as the Toronto defence struggled to keep up. Serna passed to Dillon Powers who drove into the box, attracting two Toronto defenders before raking a short ball back to an unmarked Buddle in front Seconds earlier, Bekker had bent a free kick round the wall and off the goalpost. Bekker hit the woodwork again in stoppage time. Asked what he thought after hitting both free kicks, Bekker replied: "Goal." "I thought he was brilliant today," Nelsen said of the 23-year-old Canadian. "Absolutely brilliant, one of our standout players." Colorado had lost all six of its previous games at BMO Field against Toronto although it did win the MLS Cup here in 2010, beating FC Dallas. Torontos bench was young and green with 18-year-old Jordan Hamilton, 21-year-old Nick Hagglund, 22-year-old Gale Agbossoumonde, 23-year-old Ashtone Morgan, 24-year-old Joe Bendik and Andrew Wiedeman, and 25-year-old Ryan Richter. Just having Morgan on the bench was a surprise. The fullback was listed as being out with a hip flexor strain, which might explain why he took virtually no part in warmup. Nelsen said later Morgan could not have played, but was on the bench to be part of the team. The pitch was an improvement from the home opener three weeks ago but still cut up quickly. The bumpy surface and stiff cross-field wind did not help the quality of the game, with giveaways galore early on. Colorado looked for a patient buildup while Toronto opted for a more direct approach. Neither produced much of note although there were chances as the first half wore on with Colorado recovering from a slow start to come back at the home side. Gabriel Torres shot wide and Buddle was stopped in close by Toronto keeper Julio Cesar. At the other end, a header fr '