NHL playoff picture tight

With three days left in the National Hockey League regular season, division titles and wild-card spots were still moving on April 13. (nhl.com) The National Hockey League sends 16 teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs: the top three in each division plus two wild cards in each conference. The first tiebreaker is regulation wins, so a team can be tied on points and still trail in the bracket. (cbssports.com) Entering the final stretch, seven of 16 playoff berths had not been clinched, and two division races were separated by almost nothing. On April 11, the Atlantic Division top three were split by two points, and the Pacific Division top three were split by one. (nhl.com) In the Atlantic, Buffalo had 106 points through 80 games, while Montreal and Tampa Bay each sat at 104. Buffalo also held the regulation-wins edge over both clubs, giving the Sabres control of the first tiebreaker. (nhl.com) By April 13, ESPN’s standings showed Buffalo and Montreal tied at 106 points, with Tampa Bay at 104 and one game in hand on both. Boston had 98 points and Ottawa 97, which left first-round matchups in the East unsettled even for teams that had already qualified. (espn.com) The Metropolitan Division had one race for seeding and another for survival. Carolina had already clinched first, Pittsburgh had locked up second, and Philadelphia held third with 93 points, while Washington had 91 and Columbus 87 with games still to play. (nhl.com) (espn.com) Washington stayed alive over the weekend, and Columbus improved its chances by beating Montreal 5-2 on April 12. The Columbus Dispatch reported that win lifted the Blue Jackets’ playoff odds to 24 percent, with two games remaining and help still needed. (usatoday.com) (dispatch.com) The Western Conference was not much cleaner. ESPN’s April 13 standings showed Colorado at 115 points, Dallas at 108 and Minnesota at 102 atop the Central, while Vegas led the Pacific with 91 points and Edmonton and Anaheim were one point back at 90. (espn.com) That left the Pacific bracket especially volatile, because Vegas, Edmonton and Anaheim were separated by a single point with two or three games left. A swing of one win or one overtime loss could still change who opened at home and who dropped into a wild-card path. (nhl.com) (espn.com) The regular season is scheduled to end on April 16, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to begin on April 18. Until then, the bracket is still being written night by night. (sports.yahoo.com)