NHL Playoff Standings 2016: Bracket Picture Before Final Regular-Season Games

While 14 of the 16 playoff spots have been sewn up in the NHL, not one of the first-round matchups has been finalized going into the final weekend of the regular season.

There are likely matchups in the playoff bracket, but the variables are plenty.

The biggest questions involve the Detroit Red Wings (93 points), the Boston Bruins (93 points) and the Philadelphia Flyers (92 points). Two of those three teams will play postseason hockey while the third dusts off the golf clubs and prepares for a summer vacation. Going into the final games, the Flyers are in ninth place in the NHL standings and out of the playoff structure. 

The Red Wings go to Madison Square Garden Saturday to face the New York Rangers. If the Red Wings win in regulation or overtime, they would clinch third place in the Atlantic Division. However, if they lose the game or win in a shootout, the Bruins could earn that spot if they get an ROW victory at home over the Ottawa Senators.

Conference	Higher seed	Lower Seed
Eastern	Washington (1-Metropolitan)*	Boston (2-WC)
Eastern	Pittsburgh (2-Metropolitan)*	N.Y. Islanders (3-Metropolitan)
Eastern	Florida (1-Atlantic)*	N.Y. Rangers (1-WC)
Eastern	Tampa Bay (2-Atlantic)*	Detroit (3-Atlantic)
Western	Dallas (1-Central)	Minnesota (2-WC)*
Western	St. Louis (2-Central)	Chicago (3-Central)*
Western	Los Angeles (1-Pacific)	Nashville (1-WC)*
Western	Anaheim (2-Pacific)	San Jose (3-Pacific)*
*Clinched current playoff position

Both the Bruins and Red Wings will play their games at 12:30 p.m. ET, so neither will have the advantage of knowing what the other did.

The Red Wings may have an advantage against New York because the Rangers are not starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist and Mats Zuccarello will not be in the lineup, according to Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News.

Even if the Red Wings get their ROW victory, the Bruins could still make the playoffs. They have a one-point lead over the Flyers. If they retain that lead over Philadelphia through the weekend, they will take the second wild-card spot.

The Flyers have two games left. They face the streaking Pittsburgh Penguins at home before closing the season on the road against the New York Islanders Sunday.

If the Flyers win both games, they would overtake the Bruins in points no matter what happens in the Boston-Ottawa game. 

If the Bruins pass the Red Wings, the Flyers could still take the eighth spot if they overtake the Red Wings in points.

The Rangers are tied with the Islanders in the Atlantic Division as both teams have 99 points. The Islanders have the advantage in the standings because they have a game in hand, but if the two teams finish tied at season's end, the Rangers would move ahead because they have 42 ROW victories while he Islanders have 40.

Date	Matchup	Skinny
April 9	Ottawa at Boston	Bruins still need help.
April 9	Detroit at NY Rangers	Red Wings can clinch third in Atlantic win ROW here; Rangers still playing for third in Atlantic.
April 9	Pittsburgh at Philadelphia	Tough matchup for Flyers.
April 9	Buffalo at N.Y. Islanders	If Islanders win here and on Sunday, they clinch third place in division.
April 9	Nashville at Dallas	Stars can clinch top spot in West with victory.
April 9	Washington at St. Louis	Blues have shot at first but need win and help from Preds.
April 9	Winnipeg at Los Angeles	Kings have edge on Ducks if it comes down to tiebreaker.
April 9	Anaheim at Colorado	Ducks need wins here and on Sunday plus help from Jets.
April 10	Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders	Flyers may need this to get in playoffs.
April 10	Anaheim at Washington	If Kings open door, Ducks could clinch Pacific with win here.

In the Western Conference, all eight playoff spots have been determined, but first and second place in both the Central and Pacific Divisions are up for grabs. The Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues are tied for first in the former with 107 points.

The Stars own the tiebreaker edge, so the Blues would need to beat the Washington Capitals Saturday and hope Dallas loses its season finale to the Nashville Predators. If the Blues lost an overtime game to Washington and Dallas is beaten in regulation, St. Louis would take the division.

The Los Angeles Kings (101 points) would clinch the Pacific if they beat the Winnipeg Jets in their season finale. However if the Kings don't win that game and the Anaheim Ducks (99 points) beat the Colorado Avalanche and Washington in their final two games of the season, they would overtake Los Angeles.