Columbus officially out

Columbus was knocked out of the National Hockey League playoff race on April 13, when Philadelphia reached overtime against Carolina and locked up the point it needed. (nhl.com) The Flyers beat the Hurricanes 3-2 in a shootout at Xfinity Mobile Arena, but the Blue Jackets were finished the moment Philadelphia forced overtime. Under the National Hockey League standings system, an overtime loss is worth one point in the standings. (nhl.com) That result pushed Philadelphia to 94 points through 81 games. Columbus had 92 points through 80 games, which left the Blue Jackets unable to catch the Flyers even if they won out. (dispatch.com) The cutoff in the East had narrowed to the second wild-card spot, the last playoff berth outside the top three teams in each division. Boston held that second wild card with 96 points, Ottawa had the first wild card with 96, and Columbus sat third in the wild-card race with 92. (nhl.com) Columbus had stayed alive by beating Washington 4-1 on April 12, but it still needed help the next night from Carolina. The Hurricanes won the Metropolitan Division in the same game that ended the Blue Jackets’ path. (dispatch.com) The Blue Jackets’ late slide left them needing outside results. Columbus went 3-6-1 in its last 10 games listed on the standings page, while Philadelphia entered April 13 on a 7-3-0 run. (nhl.com) Philadelphia’s clincher came from Tyson Foerster in the fourth round of the shootout after goals in regulation from Travis Konecny and Noah Cates. Dan Vladar stopped Alexander Nikishin to finish the win. (nhl.com) For Columbus, the elimination closed a push that lasted into the final week of the regular season but stopped short of the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2020. The standings made it official before the Blue Jackets could play their last games. (dispatch.com)