Breaking down 3 teams' routes to the East's last playoff spot

Thanks to a Tampa Bay Lightning win over the Toronto Maple Leafs and a New York Islanders victory over the Carolina Hurricanes, we are no closer to figuring out who will claim that second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Maple Leafs had their second chance to punch their ticket to the postseason, but dropped a 4-1 decision to the Lightning just 48 hours after a similar result against the Washington Capitals.

As for the Islanders, they got up 3-0 before the second period was a minute old against the Hurricanes and shut things down after that, keeping their slim playoff hopes alive.

Related - Playoff percentages: Door ajar for Bolts, Isles after Leafs fail to clinch

With the Lightning and Islanders both coming out victorious, the race continues. Heading into the weekend, here's how each of these three playoff hopefuls will need to conclude their season in order to claim that final spot.

Brace yourselves, this might get confusing:

Maple Leafs

Quite simply, the Maple Leafs control the fate of the final spot, and those of the Lightning and Islanders as a result.

A victory in one of their final two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Columbus Blue Jackets would secure the spot for Toronto. Meanwhile, a single point in the final two games would force both New York and Tampa Bay to go nearly perfect in their final two games.

A single regulation loss by the Lightning or the Islanders would also send the Maple Leafs to the postseason.

Lightning

It's quite simple for the Lightning: beat both the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres in regulation and hope the Maple Leafs get no more than a single point over their final two games.

The Maple Leafs currently have two more combined regulation and overtime wins than the Lightning, which is the first tiebreaker in the standings. In other words, the Lightning must win both their contests before they reach a shootout.

Luckily, the Lightning hold the second tiebreaker against the Maple Leafs, as a result of collecting more points against them in the regular-season series.

Islanders

As for the Islanders, they must win both their games - against the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators.

The Maple Leafs hold every tie-breaking scenario against New York, meaning the Islanders must surpass the Maple Leafs either in points or in ROW (in the event they are tied). Anything less than perfection won't do.

Islanders/Lightning

Cover your eyes Maple Leafs fans, but in the case both the Islanders and Lightning go perfect down the stretch and the Maple Leafs fail to record a single point, New York would have the edge in ROW over Tampa Bay.

However, if the Lightning can make up that single regulation or overtime win on the Islanders, Tampa Bay would head to the postseason, having gone 3-0-0 against the Islanders during the regular season.