NHL Playoff Death Watch: Sharks keeping rolling; huge night in East

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

Logan Couture isn’t delusional. Even after the San Jose Sharks closed their playoff gap again with a 3-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes, he knows they need a ton of help to make this miraculous late push succeed.

"We put ourselves in this position, we have no one to blame but ourselves," he said. "We can't change anything. We can't go back and win games that we lost. We can only win the games that are ahead of us."

The Sharks have earned nine of 10 possible points in their last five games. They’re four points in back of Calgary for the No. 3 seed in the Pacific, and three points away from the Los Angeles Kings and Winnipeg Jets on the bubble.

The Sharks and Flames have four games left. The Jets and Kings have five, but the Sharks play the Kings in the season finale.

Again, they’ll need help; but San Jose has three very winnable games before the LA showdown: at Arizona tonight, vs. fading Dallas and at Edmonton.

"We're what, three points out? You never know what happens,” said Couture.

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…

Huge night in the Eastern Conference on Saturday.

Tampa Bay visits Florida. The Bolts are two points in back of Montreal for tops in the Atlantic with three games left for each. They have the ROW lead, 45-41. The Panthers can be eliminated with a regulation loss, or any combination of two points lost by them and gained by the Boston Bruins.

The B’s host the Toronto Maple Leafs, looking to maintain a 3-point cushion over the Ottawa Senators for the last wild card while also chasing Pittsburgh for the first wild card. Oh, yeah: They’re also tied with Detroit at 93 points and 37 ROW, although the Wings have a game in-hand.

The Wings are at Minnesota and then visit Washington on Sunday.

The Senators host the Capitals, and then visit Toronto. The Islanders host Buffalo.

As for the Metro, the Penguins still control their own destiny to finish as high as No. 2. But the first-round seeding is anyone’s guess.

Meanwhile, in the West …

Wins by the Blues and Blackhawks put the top spot in the Central in chaos. The Predators have 103 points, as do the Blues. The Blackhawks have 102. The Preds own the ROW lead (41) over both (39). Also, Chicago and St. Louis battle on April 9.

Vancouver visits Winnipeg and Calgary is in Edmonton on Saturday. The Kings host Colorado, while the surging Sharks are in Arizona to play a team that’s rather disinterested in victories these days.

Both Colorado and Dallas can be eliminated on Saturday.