Using Sports Club Stats, here are the records each bubble team needs down the stretch to earn a better-than-50-percent shot of making the playoffs…
Eastern Conference (four bubble teams, one spot available)
Boston Bruins — 9-8-3
Florida Panthers — 11-5-3
Ottawa Senators — 14-6-2
Philadelphia Flyers — 14-3-2
The biggest mover since we last did this has been Ottawa. The Senators are 7-1-1 in their last nine and still have two games left with the Bruins. That being said, this is still Boston’s spot to lose. And you better believe the B’s would love to wrap it up before April rolls around, because here’s how they finish their season:
Western Conference (seven bubble teams, four spots available)
Vancouver Canucks — 8-11-1
Minnesota Wild — 8-9-3
Winnipeg Jets — 7-8-3
Calgary Flames — 9-7-4
Los Angeles Kings — 11-8-1
San Jose Sharks — 11-6-1
Colorado Avalanche — 14-3-2
We’ve removed the Dallas Stars from the list, as their chances of making the playoffs have fallen below 1 percent. Of the seven remaining teams, all but Colorado have a reasonable chance to do what they need to do. Yet at the same time, none of them are safe. Not even Vancouver at the top. The Canucks have three games left with the Kings and two with the Sharks. They also have this rather tough stretch at the end of the month and into April:
