With 18 games to go and teams vying to make the top four in their conferences and move on to the post-season, things are heating up in a big way. The 2010-2011’s final quarter is going to be a doozy.

Plante Conference

Salem and South Carolina have solid leads over their respective divisions, but Sterling and Charleston aren’t very far behind. With Baltimore falling off since a hot start, the race to watch is between El Dorado and Sterling: can Alex Ovechkin and the Lynx make up the 3-point deficit for the last playoff berth? The Eagles host El Dorado for three games in the last quarter – they could make all the difference.

PLANTE CONFERENCE
1.  SALEM           86
2.  SOUTH CAROLINA  83
3.  CHARLESTON      74
4.  STERLING        71
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5.  EL DORADO       68
6.  BALTIMORE       61
7.  SOUTH PARK      59
8.  SAN DIEGO       57
9.  MIDLAND         53
10. ALTOONA         38

Sawchuk Conference

The Sawchuk is a conference of extremes:  St. Louis, Portland, and West Virginia are all playoff locks – but behind them are a number of sub-.500 teams hunting for the final spot.

The race was even closer until a late-quarter collapse by Nashville that gave Farmington a 5-point cushion over 5th place Vancouver (and also vaulted Portland over St. Louis). But Boston, Oregon, and Delta are all within 10 points of the Fighting Saints – theoretical striking distance with 36 more points to be had this season.

SAWCHUK CONFERENCE
1.  PORTLAND        88
2.  ST. LOUIS       87
3.  WEST VIRGINIA   82
4.  FARMINGTON      62
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5.  VANCOUVER       57
6.  BOSTON          55
7.  OREGON          52
8.  DELTA           52
9.  ICE HARBOR      49
10. NASHVILLE       46

Statistical Leaders

The 3rd quarter saw West Virginia’s Sidney Crosby take over the points lead from Salem star Patrick Marleau, 107 to 104 – although Marleau is on the brink of joining the exclusive 60-goal club, with 59.

South Carolina’s Evgeni Nabokov is still near the top of the league in most goaltending categories (2.17, .931) but is being challenged by Tuukka Rask of El Dorado, who’s posted 2.10 and .933 in 11 fewer games.

Want to know the secret to The St. Louis Blues’ success this season? How about having the two highest-scoring defensemen? Drew Doughty (63 points) and Chris Pronger (58 points) lead all blueliners this season.

See the Current Leaders page for more.