Since we're down to the final moments of postseason life for teams in contention, Puck Daddy solemnly begins a daily countdown to annihilation.
The focus is on the bubble today in the East and the West, with some critical matchups in both conferences.
It begins this afternoon on NBC, as the Rangers take on the Flyers and hope to break a 2-game losing streak. More to the point: They're hoping to still be in a playoff spot after today, because the Hurricanes closed to within one point of the Rangers and two points of the Sabres with their win last night.
Said Brandon Dubinsky to the Daily News:
"You've got to have a short memory at this time of year," left wing Brandon Dubinsky said. "If you let things get you down, and dwell on things, it just hurts you. ... We've got to trust the resiliency that this team has, and we've shown all season long, whether it's coming back in a game or coming back after six losses in a row or 11 out of 15, to win eight out of nine. That's just the way this team's been. Everybody step up, do their job, and we'll go into the playoffs guns blazing."
Buffalo avoided making today's game in Raleigh one in which the Canes can pass them. The best Carolina can do with a victory is tie the Sabres in wins, points and non-shootout wins.
Was it essential to the Sabres not to have just a 1-point lead heading into today's game?
"We're not thinking like that at all," said Drew Stafford last night. "We're just trying to rebound from tonight. We were lucky to get a point tonight."
In the West, the Ducks can clinch a playoff spot with a regulation win over Dallas; the Kings would also clinch with a Ducks win in regulation. Any Anaheim victory clinches a playoff spot for Phoenix. That all according to ESPN Dallas.
Meanwhile, the Flames could be eliminated today if the Blackhawks pick up two points against the Lightning at home and the Flames lose to the Avalanche; or, if the Blackhawks pick up a point against the Bolts and the Flames lose in regulation.
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
(79) |
6th/42-30-7/91 | -- | 99.3 (SCS)
99.0 (HR) |
17 | 5 |
| Buffalo Sabres
(78) |
7th/39-29-10/88 | -- | 82.0 (SCS)
80.5 (HR) |
41 | 26 |
| New York Rangers
(78) |
8th/41-32-5/87 | -- | 75.2 (SCS)
82.3 (HR) |
26 | 43 |
| Carolina Hurricanes
(78) |
9th/38-30-10/86 | 8 | 42.5 (SCS)
37.1 (HR) |
15 | 25 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs
(79) |
10th/37-32-10/84 | 4 | 1.0 (SCS)
1.1 (HR) |
0 | 1 |
Goodbye, Thrashers. And, for the first time since 1996, the Devils have been eliminated from playoff contention. Now the waiting game starts for Zach Parise's new contract … and Jacques Lemaire's decision on his future.
Here's the Western Conference:
| Team (Games) | Place/Record/Pts. | Tragic # | % Chance of Playoffs | % Chance of 7th | % Chance of 8th |
| Los Angeles Kings
(78) |
4th/45-27-6/96 | -- | 99.8 (SCS)
99.9 (HR) |
9 | 6 |
| Phoenix Coyotes
(79) |
5th/42-25-12/96 | -- | 99.7 (SCS)
98.4 (HR) |
22 | 14 |
| Nashville Predators
(79) |
6th/42-26-11/95 | -- | 99.1 (SCS)
99.1 (HR) |
22 | 15 |
| Anaheim Ducks
(78) |
7th/44-29-5/93 | -- | 94.6 (SCS)
95.5 (HR) |
24 | 33 |
| Chicago Blackhawks
(77) |
8th/42-27-8/92 | -- | 96.4 (SCS)
96.6 (HR) |
21 | 24 |
| Calgary Flames
(79) |
9th/39-29-11/89 | 3 | 1.3 (SCS)
2.4 (HR) |
0 | 1 |
| Dallas Stars
(77) |
10th/38-28-11/87 | 6 | 9.0 (SCS)
7.1 (HR) |
2 | 7 |
The Stars' playoff probability will tumble to 1.3 percent with a loss to the Ducks. Unless Anaheim or Chicago go into a sudden tailspin, it appears we have our top eight in the West.
Seeding, however, is a whole other bag of cracklins. And by that we mean the Blackhawks have a 20 percent chance of finishing fifth or sixth, and a 24 percent chance of finishing eighth.
If the playoffs started today, they'd look like this. Capitals vs. Rangers in Round 1, Sabres vs. Philly as well. The Rangers beat the Capitals in three of four this season.