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Four straight wins -- the longest winning streak in the OUA East division -- have put the Nipissing Lakers in the driver's seat, but the job is still not done.
In fact, with four games remaining, the Lakers (14-6-4) have still not locked up a playoff spot in the ultra-tight East division, where they sit just six points up on eighth place.
But that can change at home Friday.
A win over the ninth-place Ryerson Rams (11-10-3) would clinch a playoff spot for the Lakers before they hit the road for a Saturday game in Toronto against the fourth-place Varsity Blues (13-8-3).
But should they lose both weekend games, they'll be right in the middle of a dogfight that will involve seven teams fighting for six playoff spots during the final weekend of the regular season.
Realistically, your first hurdle has to be making sure you qualify for the playoffs," Lakers head coach Mike McParland said after Wednesday's practice. That should be foremost in ever ybody's mind, but if you're a good team and you want to be a good team, your goal has to be much higher than that.
But I think if you clinch that playoff spot, it makes it much easier to play without pressure after that. It makes this game important on Friday, due to the fact if you win, you know you're in and you can play a little more relaxed and not under pressure."
If there has been pressure on the Lakers the past few weeks, they've responded well, peeling off four straight wins while surrendering just six goals against.
That includes a 7-0 blanking of Ryerson last Thursday in Toronto, although McParland said the team altered its approach to take advantage of the cramped ice surface at the George Bell Arena, a strategy that may not work so well on the more spacious surface at Memorial Gardens.
Still, the Lakers have been playing better defensive hockey as a team after losing two of their first three games after the holiday break, giving up 13 goals in the process.
Part of the problem was coming off a five-week break with no exhibition game before starting again," McParland said.
Going forward, we'll definitely have to rethink that strategy so we're a little more sharp to start the second half.
The other thing is, we're much more focused on our defensive play. With the playoffs just around the corner, I think the guys are executing and focusing and maybe even thinking a bit more longer-term to try to get one of those top-four playoff spots."
Aside from earning home-ice advantage in the first round, there could be other long-term benefits for finishing among the top two or three spots. While the second-and third-place finish-e rs avoid meeting first-place McGill until the OUA East final, if that is how things play out, the OUA also receives an extra spot at the CIS national championships in Fredericton in March.
So even if an OUA East team was to lose to McGill in the division final, an OUA East team would still be alive to play the remaining OUA West team in a one-game playoff for a berth in the national championships.
So finishing as high as possible in the regular season might mean hosting such a one-game playoff.
ICE CHIPS
* With his overtime goal in Saturday's 2-1 win over RMC, forward Andrew Marcoux has now scored in three straight games after being moves to a line with Grant Toulmin and Conor O'Donnell. Marcoux led the Lakers in scoring his first two seasons, with 30 points in 28 games last season and 39 points in 28 games in 2009-10. He has 18 points in 19 games this season.
* Forward Doug Clarkson has now scored in six straight games. He has eight of his team-leading 14 tallies during that span.