NHL Playoff Death Watch: Has the East bubble burst?

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

Flat tire? Rain during a picnic? Had Northeastern in the Final Four?

No matter how bad your weekend was, it was probably better than that of the Ottawa Senators.

The Sens dropped an overtime loss to the lowly Maple Leafs, blowing a third-period lead on Saturday. Then they lost in regulation to Jaromir Jagr and the Florida Panthers on Sunday.

Four points on the table, one point gained … and that’s why the Boston Bruins have a 72-percent chance of making the playoffs and the Senators have a 25-percent chance.

Meanwhile in the West … well, this is going to become a familiar dance. The Blackhawks win, moving from the wild card to No. 3 in the Central, and the idle Wild go back to the wild card, and the Flames win to jump back into the No. 3 seed in the Pacific and the idle Kings tumble down to ninth behind the Jets, who lost and have 90 points to the Kings’ 88, but LA has a game in-hand and 35 ROW.

Fun times!

Also: RIP New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers. Enjoy your diminished lottery odds.

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.

Here’s the Eastern Conference picture:

Sunday saw the Penguins and Islanders both win, although Pittsburgh’s shootout win evened up their ROW at 38 along with their points at 95. The Pens have one game in-hand.

The Lightning can (finally) clinch with a point against the Montreal Canadiens tonight.

This is your reminder that the Panthers have two games with the Bruins left on the schedule. And that with 27 ROW, they’re going to need some help…

Meanwhile in the West...

The Kings and Jets are essentially tied at the bubble due to LA’s game in-hand, but their ROW advantage looms large.

That said, there’s still a very good chance they’ll end up in second or third place in the Pacific. The Kings face the Blackhawks tonight in either a preview of the conference final or a battle of two wild card teams.

Speaking of the Flames and the Canucks, they face the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues on the road respectively on Monday. The Stars’ tragic number is six, as are the Sharks’ and Avalanche’s. Three teams whose fingernails must be bleeding from all the hanging on they’re doing now.

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