And it's all about making it, not really placement. Because either Florida or Boston could finish #1, so who would you rather play - not clear. Or if 1st wildcard instead of 2nd wildcard, Rangers instead of Florida/Boston. Again, not a big difference.
I don't think it was a bad thing that Jersey beat Philly yesterday. Wings are 3 points behind Philly but with 2 games in hand. Wings are 2 points up on Jersey with same number of games played. Have to finish ahead of one of those teams, might be easier over Philly with still 1/3 of the season to go. All of NYI (5 pts behind the Wings, the Wings have played one more game) and Washington (6 pts behind the Wings, the Wings have played 1 more game) and Pittsburgh (7 pts behind the Wings, the Wings have played 3 more games) are still threats. On the other hand, I haven't given up on passing Tampa (3 pts ahead of the Wings, the Wings have 2 games in hand) or Toronto (Leafs are 4 pts ahead of the Wings, the Wings have played one more game), although the Leafs may finally be hitting their stride.