So that leaves us with four teams and two spots. Or does it? There's a case to be made for a fifth team, and it's one that's been all but written off for most of the season. Do you like underdogs that quietly lurk in the weeds until the very last moment, then spring up and ruin everything? Then you might enjoy the Carolina Hurricanes.
After three straight wins, the Hurricanes are within five points of the Bruins for the wild card. They have two games in hand on Boston, and one each on the Islanders, Lightning and Leafs. And while the schedule serves up a few tough games the rest of the way, they do get the Red Wings twice this week. Win both of those, and they're right in the mix.
That's the good news. But realistically, the Hurricanes may have left their playoff charge too late. With just nine games left, they'd need to nearly run the table to get to 95 points; even something like 6-1-2 would leave them with just 93. That could be enough, but only if three of the teams ahead of them all went cold. And they still have games left with the Penguins and Blue Jackets, so if they lose both of those, they'd have to be absolutely perfect the rest of the way just to get to that 93 floor.
This is one of those cases where "five points back" sounds a lot closer than it is. Thanks to the loser point, it's hard to make up that much ground over two weeks, especially against multiple teams who keep mysteriously managing to play three-point games. So while the Hurricanes probably belong in the Eastern discussion today, they'd need a furious finish to still be in the picture at the finish line.
