NHL Playoff Race: Projected matchups if season ended today

NHL playoff field and seedings if 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs began today.

With the 2014-15 NHL regular season coming to a close, the race to grab the top seeds and final playoff berths is going down to the wire. Below, SI.com has postseason projections of all eight first-round matchups if the season ended today, along with a breakdown of the teams on the outside looking in.

All playoff spots have been clinched and the East seeds are set.

FORMAT NOTE: The top three teams in each division (Atlantic, Metro, Central and Pacific) qualify. The final four “wild card” spots are filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference. It is possible that five teams could come from one division in each conference, and three from the others. In the first round, the division winner with the best record in each conference plays the corresponding wild card team that has the worst record; the wild card team with the better record of the two plays the other division winner while the teams that finish second and third in each division meet. Home-ice advantage in the first two rounds goes to the team that finished highest in the regular season standings. 

Last updated on April 11.

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#	TEAM	Points BACK
E1	Bruins	1