NHL Playoff Death Watch: Elimination night for Sabres, Blue Jackets?

Since we're down to the final moments of postseason life for teams in contention, Puck Daddy solemnly begins a daily countdown to annihilation. 

April 10 just got a heck of a lot more interesting.

That’s the final day of the regular season, and also the next time the Philadelphia Flyers visit the New York Islanders, whom they defeated on Monday night to close to within three points.

Now, there’s still a chance that the Flyers won’t need to catch the Isles, since they trail the Detroit Red Wings by a point and have a game in-hand. But with the boys from Brooklyn in their sights as well, that could be a wild finale.

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:

The Sabres and the Blue Jackets face the Hurricanes and Flyers, respectively. If they both lose and the Red Wings’ win, they’re official eliminated. 

The Red Wings visit the Lightning in an interesting battle on Tuesday night. A Detroit win closes that gap to two points with nine games to play, and gets them within a point of the Bruins.

Here are the latest Eastern Conference playoff odds from Sports Club Stats:

Meanwhile, in the West:

Big win for the Predators over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night, moving eight ahead of the Wild and four in back of the Chicago Blackhawks. They don’t, however, have any games left with the Hawks.

Here are the latest Western Conference playoff odds from Sports Club Stats:

Big night in the West: The Dallas Stars are in Chicago, the St. Louis Blues are in San Jose and the Wild host the Kings in a back-to-back for LA.  

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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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