NHL Playoff Death Watch: Wild card madness for Bruins, Avalanche
Since we’re down to the final moments of postseason life for teams in contention, Puck Daddy solemnly begins a daily countdown to annihilation.
Thursday night was a remarkable night on several fronts:
1. The Philadelphia Flyers scored two goals in 19 seconds to rally for a third-period win at the Colorado Avalanche, maintaining their Eastern Conference wild card lead. Conversely, the Colorado Avalanche blew a third-period lead in the span of 19 seconds, falling further behind the Minnesota Wild for the last Western Conference wild card.
2. The Nashville Predators won again. The Los Angeles Kings lost again. The chances that the Predators catch the slumping Chicago Blackhawks and then Kings and Blackhawks go to war in the first round of the playoffs increased, again.
3. Apparently every team in California had decided to stop winning games.
4. The Columbus Blue Jackets were eliminated.
5. This wasn’t a goal. Seriously.
Here are the current standings. The Death Watch tracks the final Wild Card spot and the teams that are chasing it. Their “tragic number” is the number of points gained by the final wild card team or lost by the team chasing it.
All playoff percentages are from Sports Club Stats; tragic numbers and other figures via the NHL. A team is eliminated from play-offs when their “Tragic Number” hits 0.
The Eastern Conference picture, via the NHL:
Where to begin …
The Boston Bruins are now just two one point ahead of the Detroit Red Wings. They have a game in-hand, and they face each other on April 7. But the Red Wings suddenly have two paths to the postseason: Topping the Flyers or Islanders for the wild card, or passing the Bruins for the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic.
The Penguins, meanwhile, dropped a game to the New Jersey Devils. Now the Islanders have a game in-hand with the Pens, with a battle between the two looming for April 2.
Here are the latest Eastern Conference playoff odds from Sports Club Stats:
*Wild Card Teams
The Sabres’ tragic number is one. Montreal can be eliminated on Saturday with a loss to the Rangers and a Flyers’ win in Arizona.
Meanwhile, in the West:
The Avalanche loss puts them three points in back of the Wild, and turns Saturday night’s battle against them in Denver into a must-win. They do have a game in-hand, but leaving those points on the table last night hurt.
Meanwhile, Dallas losing opens the door a bit more for the St. Louis Blues to potentially win the West. In a different non-Barry Trotz-running-away-with-it year, Ken Hitchcock probably gets more Jack Adams love.
Here are the latest Western Conference playoff odds from Sports Club Stats:
*Wild Card Teams
The Sharks just don’t want home ice, right? Is that the deal?
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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