NHL Playoff Death Watch: Jackets threaten Flyers; Islanders, Jets eliminated

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

Fare thee well Winnipeg Jets and New York Islanders, eliminated from postseason contention on Thursday night. May the (draft) odds forever be in your favor ...

(Or in the Islanders’ case, may they work out the way you want them to regarding the pick in the Vanek debacle.)

The Columbus Blue Jackets are the reason for the Isles’ demise, as they won for the first time ever in Philadelphia to move to 85 points on the season with six games left.

Said defenseman James Wisniewski: "This was a big ol' four-point game for us. Right like that, we're right there. We just have to keep it going. We don't want to back into anything, we want to grab what we can. Tonight was huge."

What did that win do to the East races?

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:

Huzzah! The Leafs fight on with an OT win over the Bruins!

The Capitals visit the Devils tonight in a game that’ll pretty much determine whose faint playoff chances will survive for another day.

Columbus hosts Chicago while Detroit hosts Buffalo.

The Jackets’ win over the Flyers makes things a little interesting in the Metro, as the BJs are just two points in back of Philly (87) for third in the division and a first-round date with the Rangers. The Flyers have the tie-breaker in regulation wins (36). SportClubStats still has them with a 61 percent chance of placing third in the Metro … but there’s a still a chance they can drop to the wild card.

Which means there’s still a chance they could meet the Penguins in the first round.

That sound you just heard was Marc-Andre Fleury [expletiving] himself.

Meanwhile in the Western Conference:

The Wild pulled a point out of Chicago, solidifying their grasp on the first wild card.

The Stars, meanwhile gave up three second-period goals in a loss to Carolina and opened the door a crack for the Coyotes, who host Edmonton tonight with a chance to leap back into a wild card slot.