Friday, my question, which one of the nine teams that clinched a playoff berth already is the biggest surprise. Mine was Buffalo over Pittsburgh. Today, my question is which one of the teams currently out of a playoff spot sneaks in.

In the East, all three Atlantic Division spots are locked up. The Red Wings (91 points) are three points back of the Senators (94 points) for the second Wild Card spot with three games remaining. The Islanders are tied with Detroit in points with the Blue Jackets one point back and Capitals two shy. New York, Columbus and Washington all still have a shot at surpassing Philly for third in the Metro Division. 

Out West, craziness could ensue. All three Central spots have ben determined with Utah also clinching a Wild Card berth. Edmonton (90 points), Vegas and Anaheim (89 points) currently are 1-3 in the Pacific with all three playing 79 contests. Looming, however, are the Kings (85 points) who currently see are in the second Wild Card spot and have a game in hand on the three Pacific teams.

On the outside looking in are the Predators (84 points, 79 games), Jets (82 points, 78 games) and Sharks (81 points, 78 games). St. Louis (78 points, 78 games) and Seattle (77 games, 78 games) technically are alive but would need to run the table and have every in front of them basically lose every game, making that possibility remote.

From the seven teams I listed as currently out of the playoffs, I give the Islanders the best chance to earn berth. Los Angeles would have been the choice but they recently passed Nashville. New York has an outside chance aided by the recent replacement of Patrick Roy by Pete DeBoer, vibe created by Matthew Schaefer and presence of Ilya Sorokin. My big concern is that Sorokin has been overworked, which could rear its head the next few games.