NHL Playoff Death Watch: Could Rangers slip to wild card?

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

The New York Rangers blew a third-period lead on Thursday night in a loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, which is a reminder that (a) these aren’t the same Rangers we’ve seen in the past, as they’ve now done it four times this season and (b) that the Rangers are perilously close to falling to the wild card.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ win over Nashville and the New York Islanders’ win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, plus the Rangers’ loss, leaves the Rangers one point in back of the Pens and two points ahead of the Islanders, who have a game in-hand. The Rangers and Islanders battle on April 7. The Islanders play the Penguins on Saturday.

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:

Florida hopped back to the top of the Atlantic Division standings with their win over the New Jersey Devils, and the Tampa Bay Lightning’s loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

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

*Wild Card Teams

Huge night for the Bruins and the Red Wings, as Boston is in St. Louis and the Wild visit Detroit. If the former only gains a point or less and the latter wins in regulation, the Bruins either wake up tomorrow outside the playoff bubble or the Flyers would.

Meanwhile, in the West:

Fare thee well, Arizona Coyotes, eliminated last night.

The Dallas Stars have the Central lead. The Blues have a game in-hand and are two points back, but the Stars have a significant ROW advantage.

The Kings jumped over the Ducks again for the Pacific lead, but Anaheim has a game in-hand and a showdown with the Kings on April 7.

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

*Wild Card Teams

Nashville and Minnesota both lost, which is great news for the Preds: They’re sill up four points with four games to go, tied in ROW. But both can forget about moving up to the third seed in the Central, most likely.

The Avalanche saw their tragic number remain at six. They host Washington tonight.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com 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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