Not an easy skate through possibilities

Buffalo's Toni Lydman (left) first beat Zdeno Chara with his skates and then beat goalie Alex Auld with the puck. (Don Heupel/Associated Press)

BUFFALO - The Bruins know where they are, which is a place as precarious as it is pleasing, but they choose not to look too, too closely.

"We play again Wednesday," said veteran Bruins winger Glen Murray as he left here last night. "Time to focus on that."

"If you look at the standings," mused P.J. Axelsson, "all you do is get mesmerized."

Get our your slide rules, folks, and dust off Mrs. Chagaruley's dog-eared multiplication tables, the final week of the NHL's 2007-08 regular season is shaping up as a few days only Bill James or an H&R Block tax geek could love. Round up the numerators, summon your denominator within, and check boston.com hourly throughout the week to find out if the Bruins finally, finally, finally! will make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Nothing was settled here at the edge of icy Lake Erie last night. After winning three straight, including an impressive 4-0 putaway of the Senators Saturday, the Bruins were a little too pooped to pop at HSBC Arena, and in the end settled for a 2-1 overtime loss to their longtime division rival Sabres.

The Bruins mustered only 18 shots, and not even one-third of those presented a true scoring threat on goalie Ryan Miller. They scored their only goal (David Krejci's eighth point in four games) while shorthanded. And they went 0 for 4 on the power play. Yes, they played with intelligence, but not with much positive consequence.

"I think we've got to give the other team credit tonight - they played with desperation," said hard-rock Boston winger Shawn Thornton. "Every time we got ahold of the puck, they were right on us. And for us, that was our third game in four nights . . . no excuses, and we're not satisfied with just 1 point, but . . . "

But here they are, with three games to play, wedged snuggly - but not the least bit securely - in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Rangers (with one game in hand), Flyers, and Bruins all have 91 points. And just below, peering up from ninth like so many flesh-eatin' piranhas, are the Washington Capitals with 88 points.

One week to go. So many mathematical equations and permutations at play, along with the collective and fragile psyche of Bruins fans, who shudder to think their favorite franchise could miss the playoffs a third straight season for the first time since the blacker-than-black hole 1960s.

The Capitals, let the record show, have gone 12-4-0 (.750) since their tradin'-day acquisitions of No. 1 goalie Cristobal Huet and aged Russian magician Sergei Fedorov. They have traction, and they're just waiting for the Rangers, Flyers, or Bruins to look in the mirror, the one with the fine print warning, "Objects Are Closer Than They Appear." Got that right.

The Capitals have a tough one left tomorrow vs. Carolina, but they finish with a pair of also-ran tomato cans (Tampa and Florida).

The Rangers (with that monster game in hand) play host to the pesky Penguins tonight, then have a pair against the eroded Islanders before finishing Sunday vs. the surprisingly compliant Devils.

The Flyers might have it the toughest, with a Pittsburgh-New Jersey-Pittsburgh finish.

And then the Bruins, who, as Murray noted, play in New Jersey Wednesday, then tap out at Ottawa (Friday) and against the Sabres again Saturday night on Causeway Street.

We'd be tempted to say it will be over Saturday, or even before, but nothing that has happened the last 2-3 week gives that idea any credence. The way it looks at the moment, it's more likely the Bruins will finish up Saturday night at the Garden, then meet somewhere as a group Sunday to watch the Flyers play the Penguins and the Rangers play the Devils. The Capitals finish Saturday vs. the Panthers.

Oh, hey, and let's not forget the Hurricanes, who wrap up their regular season Friday vs. the Panthers in Raleigh. The Canes, in third place overall with 90 points, actually have 1 point fewer than the Rangers, Flyers, and Bruins in sixth. Why? Because they lead the Southeast Division, which is home to . . . you got it, the Capitals.

Readjust that slide rule, because the Caps could slip ahead of the Canes for the divisional crown and thus land the third seed overall. The Canes, no doubt all fitted for oxygen masks to survive the sudden drop, then would slide back into that NYR-Flyer-Bruin scrum for seeds 6-7-8. Misery just loves company.

Confused? Of course you are. But this is when we should all be thankful that Marie Reine LeGougne, the disgraced French figure skating judge, wasn't consulted on how to "interpret" the NHL standings. At least we don't think . . . nah, let's not go there. Yet.

"Right now, we've still got 10 teams battling for eight spots," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "From here on in, a lot could be decided."

It will be decided, but when, how, by whom, and by what means? No telling. Not today. Not for a few more days.

Don't you get that ugly tug in your gut that someone's fate here will rest on a call to the NHL war room in Toronto, with the likes of league VP Colin Campbell trying to decipher via videotape if a puck has crossed the goal line, or whether it tore through the side of the net? It's times like these when we expect the bizarre. Ask Sabres fans, who still think Brett Hull didn't score a legal goal here that won the Cup in '99.

"So many different scenarios that could play out," said Julien. "It could be settled quickly, if things fall into place, or it could go right to the last game."

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com.