Since we're down to the final moments of postseason life for teams in contention, Puck Daddy solemnly begins a daily countdown to annihilation.
Last night was going to produce some chaos in the Eastern Conference, and that it did: Suddenly, the Canadiens are in a freefall, the Sabres won a huge game without Ryan Miller and the Rangers have to worry about Buffalo and Carolina on the bubble.
The Habs are on a 3-6 slide that's put the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference in play. Montreal still has a 50-percent chance of placing sixth in the East, via Sports Club Stats, but have a 29 percent chance of finishing seventh … and, suddenly, a 2-percent chance of missing the playoffs.
You can't expect the psyche of the team to be anything but fragile after a humiliating and disjointed week of anti-hockey.
Montreal's win over the Thrashers might be considered the biggest one of the season, after the Hurricanes stole two points in Washington to save their playoff hopes. Those two points, in this terrible stretch the Canadiens have suffered, are the only reason this situation isn't completely desperate right now. But it certainly seems dire.
Not so dire? The Hurricanes, who continue their push for the No. 8 seed. They're at the Islanders on Saturday night, while the Sabres are at the Capitals. Then, Sunday: Buffalo vs. Carolina in Raleigh. Wow.
Meanwhile, the Anaheim Ducks landed a death blow to the Flames, dropping Calgary's tragic number to five and their playoff probability down to 0.7. There is officially a better chance that the Kings finish ninth in the West than the Flames finish eighth. And the Kings aren't finishing ninth in the West.
Coming up, the playoff pictures for the East and West, as we shift the focus to playoff seeding. The full NHL standings and schedules can be found on Y! Sports.
All playoff percentages are from Sports Club Stats; the Tragic Number is from NHL Standings and Magic Numbers. The former is an industry standard; the latter is a site we discovered this week, and are hopeful that the figures are as accurate as those from NHL Playoff Race. Also: For the Percentage Chance of Making the Playoffs, we've included the figures from Hockey-Reference.com (HR), which is crunching its own numbers. It's listed with the percentage from Sports Club Stats (SCS).
Head here for an explanation of the Tragic Numbers.
Here's the playoff picture for the Eastern Conference:
| Team (Games) | Place/Record/Pts. | Tragic # | % Chance of Playoffs | % Chance of 7th | % Chance of 8th |
| Montreal Canadiens (78) | 6th/41-30-7/89 | -- | 97.5 (SCS)
96.8 (HR) |
29 | 16 |
| Buffalo Sabres (77) | 7th/39-29-9/87 | -- | 84.7 (SCS)
84.5 (HR) |
31 | 34 |
| New York Rangers (77) | 8th/41-31-5/87 | -- | 92.3 (SCS)
94.9 (HR) |
33 | 32 |
| Carolina Hurricanes (77) | 9th/37-30-10/84 | 8 | 25.2 (SCS)
23.6 (HR) |
6 | 18 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs (77) | 10th/35-32-10/80 | 4 | 0.3 (SCS)
0.2 (HR) |
0 | 0 |
| Atlanta Thrashers (76) | 11th/32- 32-12/76 | 1 | 0.0 (SCS)
0.0 (HR) |
0 | 0 |
| New Jersey Devils (76) | 12th/35-36-5/75 | 1 | 0.0 (SCS)
0.0 (HR) |
-- | 0 |
The Sabres are ahead of the Rangers because they have 34 regulation/OT victories to the Rangers' 33. The Devils can be eliminated on Saturday; the Thrashers could be done with a loss to the Flyers tonight.
Here's the Western Conference:
| Team (Games) | Place/Record/Pts. | Tragic # | % Chance of Playoffs | % Chance of 7th | % Chance of 8th |
| Phoenix Coyotes (78) | 4th/42-25-11/95 | -- | 98.2 (SCS)
97.7 (HR) |
17 | 10 |
| Los Angeles Kings (76) | 5th/44-26-6/94 | -- | 97.6 (SCS)
99.2 (HR) |
10 | 6 |
| Anaheim Ducks (77) | 6th/44-28-5/93 | -- | 92.5 (SCS)
94.2 (HR) |
20 | 16 |
| Nashville Predators (77) | 6th/41-26-10/92 | -- | 91.2 (SCS)
91.3 (HR) |
22 | 21 |
| Chicago Blackhawks (76) | 8th/41-27-8/90 | -- | 85.5 (SCS)
81.8 (HR) |
21 | 27 |
| Dallas Stars (75) | 9th/38-26-11/87 | 12 | 34.3 (SCS)
34.3 (HR) |
9 | 18 |
| Calgary Flames (78) | 10th/38-29-11/87 | 5 | 0.7 (SCS)
1.3 (HR) |
0 | 1 |
| Minnesota Wild (76) | 11th/36-32-8/80 | 3 | 0.0 (SCS)
0.0 (HR) |
0 | 0 |
| St. Louis Blues (77) | 12th/35-32-10/80 | -- | 0.0 (SCS)
0.0 (HR) |
-- | 0 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets (76) | 13th/34-31-11/79 | 1 | 0.0 (SCS)
0.0 (HR) |
-- |
Well, the Ducks have really made this thing interesting, haven't they?
As of this moment, the sexy matchup -- well, rematch, from 2009 -- of the Sharks and Ducks is a reality. But SCS has a 55-percent chance of the Sharks finishing second overall … which is OK, because the Ducks have a 20-percent chance of placing sixth or seventh.
Columbus can be eliminated with a loss in Washington.
Huge game for the Stars in San Jose tonight. A Dallas victory moves their playoff probability to 48.4 percent. In case you haven't noticed, this is their schedule in April. This thing ain't over yet.