What to do, what to do, if you’re the Anaheim Ducks?

The decision would have been rather simple had the rival Los Angeles Kings not blown a 3-0 lead to the Winnipeg Jets Saturday night and lost 4-3 in a shootout.

The Ducks recalled five players from AHL San Diego on Saturday with the idea they would rest key players Sunday night if the game didn’t matter.

Now?

The door has now been left open for the Ducks to capture the Pacific Division title with a win Sunday night in Washington against the Capitals in a game rescheduled because of a snowstorm.

The Kings hold the regulation and overtime wins (ROW) tiebreaker on the Ducks, but because Los Angeles only picked up one point Saturday night, Anaheim can now leapfrog the Kings to 103 points and a division title.

Had the Kings held on for the win Saturday and won the Pacific Division, the decision would have been simple for the Ducks: rest their key players Sunday evening and focus on the playoffs.

But now they have a quandary: Do they play their best possible lineup to win the division? Some of their top players are playing through bumps and bruises. They could use a rest. So the debate is this: How much does first place matter? There’s certainly not much to choose from between facing either the San Jose Sharks or Nashville Predators in the opening round. Both are going to be difficult matchups, the Sharks ending the season with 98 points and the Preds with 96.

Finishing second in the Pacific for the Ducks means a playoff date with the Sharks and less travel in the opening round. So there’s that. But winning the Pacific means home-ice advantage right through to the Western Conference finals and more specifically versus the Kings in the second round should both teams get there. Mind you, the Ducks have been eliminated at home in Game 7 in three consecutive years, so maybe home ice isn’t all that grand for them.

What to do, what to do?

I would do this if I’m Anaheim: play your best possible lineup, although if there’s a player or two who’s truly playing through a nagging injury, rest him.

I don’t think the Ducks would play their first playoff game until Thursday or Friday at the earliest, the NHL knowing that the team having to fly from Denver to Washington on Saturday night to play a makeup game has its toll.

But I think you want to win Sunday night. I believe in karma and the hockey gods or whatever, so try to win the Pacific even if there doesn’t seem to be that much at stake.

If nothing else, if you’re Anaheim, there’s the benefit that by winning the division, you're unleashing the revenge-hungry Sharks on the Kings in a rematch of the 2014 playoffs. That series saw San Jose blow a 3-0 series lead to the Kings. Let those two rivals battle it out first round.

Speaking of blowing 3-0 leads, the Kings weren’t all that thrilled ending their regular season by doing that to the visiting Jets and missing out on clinching the Pacific outright.

"It's frustrating that we didn't finish that game out," Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin told reporters after the game. "We left [goalie Jonathan Quick] out to dry, and it's disappointing. We're going to have to change our attitude before the playoffs start, or else we're not going to last long."