NHL Playoff Standings 2015: Bracket Picture Before Final Regular-Season Games

The easiest way for the Pittsburgh Penguins to make the postseason is to simply beat a bad Buffalo Sabres team Saturday in the regular-season finale. Unfortunately, for the Penguins, winning is something they have had a hard time doing over the last month.

The team has lost five games in a row and is clinging to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. If it loses Saturday, Pittsburgh will need the Boston Bruins to lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in regulation to make the playoffs.

The Bruins own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Penguins and would make it over them, if both teams finish the season tied.

Here's a look at the standings after the games Friday:

Place	Team	Division	Points
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Metropolitan Division
Wild Card
In the Hunt
Western Conference
Place	Team	Division	Points
Pacific Division
Central Division
Wild Card
1	Montreal Canadiens	A	108
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	A	106
3	Detroit Red Wings	A	98
1	New York Rangers	M	111
2	Washington Capitals	M	101
3	New York Islanders	M	100
1	Ottawa Senators	A	97
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	M	96
3	Boston Bruins	A	95
1	Anaheim Ducks	P	107
2	Vancouver Canucks	P	99
3	Calgary Flames	P	97
1	St. Louis Blues	C	107
2	Nashville Predators	C	104
3	Chicago Blackhawks	C	102
1	Minnesota Wild	C	100
2	Winnipeg Jets	C	97

With one game remaining, here are the playoff matchups if the season ended today:

Current Eastern Conference Playoff Matchups
Series	Away Team	Home Team
Current Western Conference Playoff Matchups
W1 vs. A1	Ottawa Senators	Montreal Canadiens
A3 vs. A2	Detroit Red Wings	Tampa Bay Lightning
W2 vs. M1	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
M3 vs. M2	New York Islanders	Washington Capitals
Series	Away Team	Home Team
W1 vs. C1	Minnesota Wild	St. Louis Blues
C3 vs. C2	Chicago Blackhawks	Nashville Predators
W2 vs. P1	Winnipeg Jets	Anaheim Ducks
P3 vs. P2	Calgary Flames	Vancouver Canucks

Hottest Teams Heading into the Playoffs

Washington Capitals

Captain Alexander Ovechkin has the Washington Capitals clicking on all cylinders heading into a first-round series with the New York Islanders. Washington has won two straight, and it is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games.

Ovechkin leads the league in goals with 52, and he has five points in his last five games. The Caps can wrap up home-ice advantage in the series with a win at home against the New York Rangers on Saturday. A loss or overtime would open the door for the Isles to steal the advantage, if they can win at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

If the teams finish in a tie, the Islanders would get the home-ice advantage because they own the tiebreaker.

Minnesota Wild

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

Like the Caps, the Minnesota Wild have won two in a row and are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. The Wild are currently slated to face the top-seeded St. Louis Blues in the first round, but there's still a chance Minnesota could overtake the Chicago Blackhawks for third place in the Central Division.

If the Wild win at St. Louis on Saturday, and the Blackhawks lose their fourth straight game in a road tilt at the Colorado Avalanche, the Wild would then play the reeling Nashville Predators in the first round.

The Preds have lost five in a row heading into the regular-season finale against the Dallas Stars. While the Blues have the most points in the conference, the Wild should feel confident about their chances to win. The team has been playing amazingly on the road, as ESPN.com's John Buccigross confirms:

It's obvious the Wild would love to improve their standing and face a struggling team rather than the conference's top seed. We'll see what happens on an important final day of the NHL's regular season.