Red Wings defenseman Ben Chiarot moves the puck against the Boston Bruins during the second period on Saturday in Detroit. (AP photo)

NEW YORK — Connor McDavid called the Pacific Division path to the playoffs “a bit of a pillow fight right now.”

The same race down the stretch in the NHL’s Eastern Conference is anything but.

No team has clinched a berth, and only three — Carolina, Tampa Bay and Buffalo — are strong bets to get in. That means five spots up for grabs among seven contenders who just keep winning to up the ante on each other.

Montreal, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Boston, Ottawa, Detroit and the New York Islanders have combined to go 52-29-17 since play resumed following the Olympic break, a points percentage of .617. Two of them are guaranteed to miss the playoffs and could tie or break the record for the most standings points of any team that failed to qualify.

“It just heightens the urgency mentally,” Senators forward Lars Eller said. “There’s no cushion, and every game it’s a fight for your life just staying in the race.”

Eller and his teammates have gone 10-2-2 out of the break to take over the conference’s second and final wild-card position with 85 points and 11 games remaining. The Islanders also at 85 points have slipped out of the top eight in the East after losing three of four but still have more than Anaheim, atop the Pacific with 84, with Edmonton at 79 and Vegas at 78 points comfortably in the field.

Beastly East

There’s nothing comfortable about the stretch run in the East, where even a brief slide can make a big difference.

“It’s up to us to get the job done — it’s up to us to get the wins ourselves,” Islanders center Bo Horvat said. “You’re always watching what other teams are doing, but at the same time, we can’t rely on other teams losing in order for you to get in. You want to win to get in.”

The traditional line to get in has for a long time been 94 points. Since 16 teams began qualifying in 1979-80, just four teams have reached 96 and missed: the Bruins in 2014-15, the Panthers in 2017-18, the Canadiens in 2018-19 and the Flames last season. Those left out this time could pass that mark.

Scoreboard watching

A veteran of more than 1,300 regular-season NHL games and 101 more over 10 playoff runs, Ottawa’s Claude Giroux acknowledges he does a lot of scoreboard watching this time of year.

“It’s hard not to,” Giroux said. “I mean, I do. I’m not going to lie. I feel like every team is winning all the time. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.”

His coach, Travis Green, does the same, even as he preaches to players the sports cliche that they can only control what they can control.

“We all watch,” Green said. “We do it every night. It’s an exciting time of the season right now. Some nights I put it on, and if good things are happening, I keep it on. And if not, I change the channel.”

Unlikely runs

This season has shown the improbable is possible.

The Sabres are on the verge of ending the league’s longest active playoff drought despite losing 18 of their first 28 games. They moved from last in the conference on Dec. 13, a couple of days before general manager Kevyn Adams was fired and replaced by Jarmo Kekalainen, to first in the Atlantic Division on March 8.

The Blue Jackets were last in the East on Jan. 12 when they changed coaches from Dean Evason to Rick Bowness and have since gone 19-3-4 to climb to second in the Metropolitan Division. The Senators were languishing near the basement in mid-January before going 15-3-2 since beginning their run on Jan. 25 to get back into the picture.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL