The Detroit Red Wings could be eliminated from the playoff race this weekend.
Their next chance at adding two points comes on Saturday, April 11, when they play their last home game of the regular season, hosting the New Jersey Devils at Little Caesars Arena. When the puck drops on that game at 5 p.m. (FanDuel Sports Network Detroit), the Wings will know if they're on the brink of elimination.
That's because the Boston Bruins, currently in the first wild-card spot, play at 12:30 p.m. against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and if the Bruins win, they would reach 98 points, out of reach for the Wings. If the Bruins get one point, the Wings could stay alive by getting one point.
IN THE CREASE: Detroit Red Wings' John Gibson OK to play, Michal Postava in reserve
The Ottawa Senators, who have a three-point lead on the wings for the second wild-card berth, then play at 1 p.m. at the New York Islanders. If the Senators win, they will reach 96 points, with two games left. If the Bruins win, and the Senators win, the Wings (41-29-9, 91 points) need to win, because if they remain at 91 points, with two games left, they max out at 95 points.
Essentially, the Wings are wearing figurative blinders to keep out the surrounding pressure.
"I think everything will be falling in place as it will anyways and there's nothing we can control," defenseman Moritz Seider said after Friday's practice. "We just should control our focus. Our preparation should be very dialed-in and shouldn't get any distraction from any outside game. We've just got to come prepared, ready to go."
Coach Todd McLellan echoed that mindset, saying, "Ottawa is going to do their own thing and whatever the outcome is, the outcome is. We have to play at 5 and that's what we have to do.
"The tiebreakers and all that type of stuff, if we're lucky enough to even get involved in any of that, we'll know those scenarios in the last game. They're really irrelevant right now and any result that Ottawa has, we still have to play and win."
One tiebreaker already is determined, though, which is that the Senators have the first one in hand because they already have 36 regulation victories. The Wings have 30. The Bruins have 31 regulation victories.
So for the Wings to come out of the weekend still in the face, they need to beat the Devils.
The Wings finish with a trip south, playing the Lightning (who are still jockeying for positioning among the top three spots in the Atlantic Division) on Monday in Tampa, Florida, and then the Panthers (eliminated) on Wednesday in Sunrise, Florida.
The Senators and Bruins aren't the Wings' only concern, either. The Islanders enter the weekend with 91 points and three games left and the Columbus Blue Jackets sit with 90 points, also with three games left.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings in must-win mode to try to make playoff cutoff