Perhaps the writing was on the wall as early as the fourth game of the season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning - who pushed the Pittsburgh Penguins to seven games in the 2016 Eastern Conference finals - now sit four points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs in the race for the final wild-card spot.

Related - Playoff Percentages: Idle Leafs, Isles rejoice as Bruins, Lightning falter again

With that in mind, here's a quick look back at three losses that could prove to be very costly if the Lightning ultimately miss the playoffs.

Oct. 20 vs. Colorado

After kicking off the regular season with three straight wins, the Lightning dropped a 4-0 decision to the Avalanche on home ice.

It was difficult to foresee just how far Colorado's season would fall downhill from that point on, but the Avalanche are now a full 20 points behind the Arizona Coyotes at the bottom of the NHL standings, on track for the worst season of any team in the shootout era.

Losing a game to Colorado in 2016-17 is a bad result, by any measure.

Jan. 21 @ Arizona

As mentioned, the Coyotes are the next-worst team in the NHL after Colorado, and have scored only 2.36 goals per game.

On this day, however, Arizona dropped five goals on the Lightning, all of which were allowed by a since-traded Ben Bishop on just 17 shots against.

For their part, the Lightning managed 48 shots, but puck luck clearly wasn't on their side, resulting in a tough-to-swallow 5-3 defeat.

March 21 vs. Arizona

Despite playing without star center Steven Stamkos for most of the season - while enduring a host of other injuries and playing the role of seller at the trade deadline - the Lightning entered Wednesday's game against Arizona with a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race.

The result? Another 5-3 loss at the hands of the Coyotes. To make matters worse, the Lightning held a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

"There's been a lot of frustrating games this year, so this ranks up there," head coach Jon Cooper said afterward, per the Associated Press. "How important the game is to us .... That 3-2 lead at home in a must-win for us, to give it up like we did, it's frustrating, to say the least."

It's not over yet, but things look bleak with 10 games remaining on the schedule. And while a lot of factors have contributed to Tampa Bay's slide, it's easy to look back at those three games as missed opportunities.

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Here they go again?

After two years of missing the playoffs as a result of late-season swoons, the Boston Bruins aren't about to let go of their hold on a postseason berth.

So says defenseman Torey Krug, whose seventh goal of the season wasn't enough to keep the team from dropping a third straight game Tuesday in Ottawa.

"Haven't thought about it. Haven't talked about it," Krug said of the past two seasons' failures, per Amalie Benjamin of NHL.com. "It's a different feeling this year. It's not going to happen. I know we have a lot of pride in this room, the guys that have been through it. There's no other option except making sure we stay on course and take care and do our jobs."

Boston had a chance of securing a playoff spot on the final day of 2015-16, only to lose 6-1 to the Senators on home ice. And in 2014-15, a three-game losing streak to end the season kept the Bruins two points out of the final spot.

Despite the recent losses, Boston remains third in the Atlantic Division with a 78 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to Sports Club Stats.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, however, are one point back and have two games in hand, and could very well bump the Bruins into the second wild-card spot and a much less desirable first-round matchup. The New York Islanders sit four points back, also with two games in hand, thereby posing a real threat of bumping the Bruins from the playoff picture entirely.

For Krug, the answer is simple: take things one game at a time, beginning Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"There's no other option except winning that game," he said.

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Calgary Flames rookie Matthew Tkachuk was suspended two games for an ugly elbow on reigning Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty on Sunday, and while many believe he's on track to build an unfavorable reputation throughout the league in his debut season, one franchise legend thinks otherwise.

Related: Doughty calls out Tkachuk: 'He's a pretty dirty player, that kid'

Theo Fleury, the diminutive right winger that played 791 games for the Flames and amassed 1,088 points in his lengthy career, said he "loved" the play and thinks Tkachuk's suspension will benefit him in the future.

"He's smart," Fleury told Sportsnet's Mark Spector. "What he did the other night was, he sent a message to the entire league. Yeah, it cost him two games, but I'm sure it will benefit him down the road.

"The more room you get on the ice, the more you have to do the things you do best. By creating some unpredictability, you get more room."

Fleury, listed at 5-foot-6, broke into the NHL in an entirely different era, when plays like Tkachuk's were much more common. Yet, the 1989 Stanley Cup champion went as far as saying a current small and skilled Calgary winger should take notes.

"Johnny Gaudreau needs to take a lesson from him," Fleury said. "Johnny can be neutralized because of his size. If he were a little meaner with his stick and elbows, he might get a little more room out there."

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Max Pacioretty isn't picking up what Gary Bettman is putting down.

On Tuesday, the NHL commissioner stated people should assume the league will not be shutting down in order to allow player participation at the 2018 Winter OIympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, citing an inability to quantify any benefit for doing so in the past.

Respectfully, the Montreal Canadiens captain and 2014 Team USA member disagrees.

"People want to see us go, we want to go," Pacioretty said, per Eric Engels of Sportsnet. "I think it helps the league. I know it helps the league."

Pacioretty added, "For me, it’s a no-brainer that players should be there and players should go."

In regards to what Bettman said Monday, Pacioretty sees it as part of the negotiation process.

"(Bettman) is a smart guy. That’s what you do. You never try and fold or give up too much too easily. That’s what smart negotiators do, but players want to go, and we’ve heard rumblings of owners wanting players to go. It’s no surprise. We’ll see what happens, but I expect us to be there."

It was reported in November the NHL offered to extend the current collective bargaining agreement with the players in order to ensure Olympic participation, a notion that was soundly rejected.

While Bettman hasn't slammed the door shut, clearly some middle ground needs to be found in order to make it happen.

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Through the remainder of the regular season, we'll take a look at how the night's action impacts the playoff race, highlighting which teams' postseason odds went up or down significantly.

It was a busy Tuesday night in the NHL, and if the New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs were scoreboard watching, they had a blast.

Meanwhile, it was a tough night in the state of Florida. After losses in must-win games, the Tampa Bay Lightning's chances to make the playoffs are slightly below 11 percent, while the Panthers are at 0.2 percent - lowest among teams that still have a mathematical shot.

Here are the evening's biggest swings with respect to playoff odds, with all the significant action happening in the East:

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

To see percentages for the entire NHL, visit Sports Club Stats.

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CHICAGO - Daniel Sedin scored a power-play goal 2:12 into overtime and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 on Tuesday night to end a six-game skid.

With his twin brother Henrik Sedin screening goalie Scott Darling, Daniel Sedin connected on a high, long shot. The score withstood a video review for goaltender interference and snapped the Blackhawks' five-game winning streak.

Chicago rookie Ryan Hartman scored his second goal of the game with 1:03 left in the third period to tie it at 4. The Blackhawks rallied with three goals in the third period to send it to overtime.

Vancouver's Brandon Sutter scored two goals to end a 13-game drought. Sutter, along with Henrik Sedin and Reid Boucher, connected on three of the Canucks' first five shots as Vancouver pounced on Chicago mistakes to build a 4-1 advantage.

Ryan Miller made 40 saves as the Canucks were outshot 44-15.

Marian Hossa scored his 23rd goal and Richard Panik his 20th in the third period to help Chicago storm back late for a second straight game.

Chicago All-Star Corey Crawford made just six saves on 10 shots before being relieved by Darling after Sutter scored his second goal - and 17th of the season - at 2:15 of the third.

The Blackhawks' Central Division lead over Minnesota dropped to six points after the Wild's 3-2 win over San Jose.

The fading Canucks entered having lost four straight in regulation and were 0-4-2 in their last six.

Vancouver had been outscored 21-9 in the six-game slide and 15-5 in the last four.

The Canucks cashed in on Chicago lapses and scored on three straight shots late in the first and early in the second to take a 3-1 lead.

After slipping to the crease uncovered, Henrik Sedin opened the scoring with 59.5 seconds left in the first. Crawford had no chance on his point-blank backhand deflection of Daniel Sedin's snappy feed from the right boards.

Sutter made it 2-0 just 1:33 into the second after Blackhawks rookie Nick Schmaltz lost the puck just inside the Chicago blue line. Jayson Megna whipped it down low to Sutter, who moved in alone and faked Crawford to the ice.

Hartman cut it to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 3:15, beating Miller with a nifty fake after darting down the slot alone to cap a slick passing play with Hossa and Schmaltz.

Panik came inches from tying it during a power play two minutes later, but his close-in shot clanked off the left post.

Instead, Boucher scored on the Canucks' next shot at 7:45 to make it 3-1. After slipping behind Chicago's defense, he cut toward the crease and tipped in Christopher Tanev's feed.

Sutter made it 4-1 when he completed a 2-on-1 break with Jack Skille.

Hossa's one-timed drive from the right circle at 5:48 cut it to 4-2. Panik narrowed it to 4-3 on a screened shot from the high slot at 2:22 later.

NOTES: Blackhawks D Johnny Oduya was back after being rested on Sunday versus Colorado. ... Chicago C Artem Anisimov sat out his fourth game with a lower-body injury. ... The Sedins combined on goals for the 703rd and 704th times, second only to Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri. ... Before the game, the Blackhawks held a moment of silence for former Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause, whose death was confirmed Tuesday by the NBA team.

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The Philadelphia Flyers continued their 2016-17 slide Tuesday night, dropping a 3-2 contest to the Winnipeg Jets to earn the 13th loss of their past 20 games.

Flyers goaltender Steve Mason didn't mince words after the loss, calling out his mates for failing to capitalize on the Jets' shorthanded blue line - Winnipeg played with six defensemen sidelined by injury.

"It was up to us to make them feel uncomfortable," Mason said after the game, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Sam Carchidi. "We're also facing a goaltender who hadn't had a start in two months, and I don't think we made it hard enough for him.

"We need a better effort."

The Flyers fired 26 shots at Jets netminder Michael Hutchinson, putting just two behind him (the second tally coming in the final two seconds, with the game all but sealed up). Mason faced 33 shots in total, stopping 30.

But it wasn't just the Tuesday-night loss that irked the veteran netminder.

"We keep playing like this and we'll be mathematically eliminated before you know it," Mason said. "We've got to stop this win-one-lose-one (habit). We have to have some growth on the team here."

With the loss in tow, the Flyers rank second-last in their division with 74 points. They haven't been eliminated just yet, as they sit seven points out of the East's final wild-card spot with 10 games remaining on their season.

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The Minnesota Wild's funk is over. The Sharks' continues.

Minny snapped its five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over San Jose, and it was a significant victory for Devan Dubnyk, who tied a franchise record for wins in a season with his 37th.

"I've been waiting for a while," Dubnyk said, according to the Star Tribune's Michael Russo. "It felt like a long month."

Dubnyk hadn't tasted victory since March 10, as the Wild allowed three or more goals in each of their five losses during their struggles. In other words, Minnesota wasn't playing Wild hockey.

"We can stop talking about the other stuff now," he added. "This is what we're about."

Five of the game's four goals Tuesday were scored in a wacky two-minute sequence in the second period:

Dubnyk finished the game with 21 saves.

The Sharks, meanwhile, are struggling to wrap up the Pacific Division. San Jose's lost four in a row, and the offense has dried up, with only eight goals scored in those four losses.

The Flames are five points back of San Jose, while Edmonton and Anaheim are only four back, and the latter two have a game in hand.

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