NHL Playoff Picture 2016: Bracket Predictions and Teams to Watch

Color the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers as winners Tuesday night in the NHL, as the former picked up two points with a shootout win while the latter appeared to gain strength even though they did not show up to play.

The Islanders defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 even though they barely held their own for 65 minutes against a team that appears to be playing out the string.

The Flyers gained an advantage because the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings both lost in regulation. 

With the season scheduled to end April 10, the Islanders and Flyers are holding down the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference with 91 and 87 points, respectively.

The Red Wings also have 87 points, but the Flyers are inside the playoff structure because they have played two fewer games than the Red Wings. The Flyers have seven games remaining, and they will play one of those games Wednesday night when they host the Washington Capitals.

Washington has already clinched the Presidents' Trophy and will have home-ice advantage as long as it remains alive in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Team	Conference	Points	Games Remaining	Skinny
Boston Bruins	Eastern	88	5	Offense has dried up at worst time of year.
New York Islanders	Eastern	91	7	Key win Tuesday night over Hurricanes.
Philadelphia Flyers	Eastern	87	7	6-2-2 in last 10 games.
Detroit Red Wings	Eastern	87	5	Blew opportunity vs. Montreal Tuesday night.
Minnesota Wild	Western	87	5	No hotter team right now.
Colorado Avalanche	Western	82	6	Playoff chances fading rapidly.

The Red Wings have to be thoroughly annoyed with themselves, because they had a 3-2 lead in the third period over the Montreal Canadiens, knowing that the Boston Bruins had dropped a 2-1 decision at New Jersey to the Devils.

If the Red Wings had held onto their advantage over the Habs, they would have climbed over the Bruins and into third place in the Atlantic Division. Montreal earned a 4-3 victory after Max Pacioretty scored the game-winning goal for the Habs.

The Bruins (88 points) continue to unravel down the stretch. After a 5-0-2 stretch that saw them rise to first place in the division, the B's have dropped six of seven games and are holding onto their playoff spot by the slimmest of margins.

After failing to make the playoffs because of late-season failures a year ago, Claude Julien's team is once again struggling at the worst time of year. After playing surprisingly well on offense throughout the majority of the season, the B's have scored 10 goals in their last seven games.

The Bruins dominated against the Devils for long stretches, outshooting their opponents 40-15 and controlling the play in the offensive zone for long stretches. However, Devils backup goalie Keith Kincaid shut them down, as the Bruins failed to convert on numerous scoring opportunities in the first period when they could have built a two- or three-goal lead.

Julien made no excuses for his team. "You can look at it any way you want but you have to look at yourselves, and blame yourselves first for this loss," Julien told the media after the game. "You can say you tried, but at this time of year, it's not good enough. The situation that we are in, we expect better from ourselves."

Conference	Higher Seed	Lower Seed
Eastern	Washington Capitals	Philadelphia Flyers
Eastern	Tampa Bay Lightning	New York Islanders
Eastern	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Rangers
Eastern	Florida Panthers	Boston Bruins
Western	Dallas Stars	Minnesota Wild
Western	Anaheim Ducks	Nashville Predators
Western	St. Louis Blues	Chicago Blackhawks
Western	Los Angeles Kings	San Jose Sharks

The Bruins and Red Wings both have five games remaining, and the key game in their fight for the playoffs may take place April 7, when the Red Wings go to Boston in the penultimate game on the schedule for both teams.

The Devils and Hurricanes are still technically in the playoff chase, but neither one is likely to play postseason hockey.

The Western Conference race for the final playoff spot between the Minnesota Wild and the Colorado Avalanche continues to tilt heavily toward the Wild. 

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Minnesota picked up an impressive 4-1 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night, and that victory gave the Wild an impressive five-game sweep in the season series against Chicago. Minnesota has reeled off six consecutive victories.

More importantly, the Wild have earned 87 points, and that gives them a five-point advantage over the Avs. Colorado suffered a 3-1 loss at St. Louis on Tuesday night against the Blues.

Minnesota and Colorado both have five games remaining in the regular season.

The Blues and the Dallas Stars both have 101 points and find themselves at the top of the Central Division, and the Stars currently hold the advantage because they have 44 regulation or overtime wins (ROW) while the Blues have 44. If the two teams are tied at the end of the season, the team with the advantage in that category will have the tiebreaker edge.

The Los Angeles Kings have a one-point lead on the Anaheim Ducks (95-94) in the Pacific Division race, but the Ducks have one game in hand on their rivals.