Three NHL teams clinch
The Philadelphia Flyers, Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings clinched the final three NHL playoff spots Monday, setting the Stanley Cup field ahead of the April 18 start. ( ). Teams are still playing late regular‑season games to firm up seeding and home‑ice advantages. ( )
Philadelphia, Anaheim and Los Angeles locked up the last three National Hockey League playoff berths on Monday, filling the 16-team Stanley Cup field with three days left in the regular season. (nhl.com) The Flyers clinched in the East with a 3-2 shootout win over the Carolina Hurricanes on April 13, and that result also locked Philadelphia into a first-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. (nhl.com) The Ducks clinched while idle when the Nashville Predators lost 3-2 in regulation to the San Jose Sharks, and the Kings clinched later that night by beating the Seattle Kraken 5-3 with help from Nashville’s loss. (nhl.com ) (nhl.com) The bracket is not fully set yet. National Hockey League standings on Tuesday showed only two of eight first-round matchups confirmed, with division titles, wild-card order and home-ice advantage still in play before the playoffs open on April 18. (nhl.com) Philadelphia’s berth ended the franchise’s playoff drought since the 2019-20 season and completed one of the league’s sharpest late pushes. The National Hockey League said the Flyers overcame a nine-point deficit as late as March 10, the largest comeback of its kind for a team making the playoffs after 60 or more games. (nhl.com) Anaheim’s clinch ended an eight-year wait. The Ducks had not reached the postseason since 2018, and they entered Tuesday in third place in the Pacific Division with room to move in either direction. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) Los Angeles took a different route back. The Kings are in for a fifth straight season, but Tuesday’s playoff scenarios still left them fighting over whether they would enter as the Pacific’s third-place team or the West’s second wild card. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) This year’s field looks different from last spring’s. The National Hockey League said six teams that missed the 2025 playoffs qualified this time: the Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks. (nhl.com) If the standings held Tuesday morning, Buffalo would face Boston, Tampa Bay would face Montreal, Carolina would face Ottawa and Pittsburgh would face Philadelphia in the East, while Vegas would face Utah, Edmonton would face Anaheim, and two Western matchups were still unsettled. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) The field is set, but the map is still moving. The next three days will decide who opens at home and who starts the playoffs on the road when the first games begin Saturday, April 18. (nhl.com)
