Hurricanes’ clinch scenarios
The Carolina Hurricanes would clinch the Eastern Conference title if they earn at least one point against the Philadelphia Flyers, or if the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Buffalo Sabres, according to NHL clinching scenarios. (nhl.com) The regular season wraps Thursday, April 16, so those seeding permutations should be resolved very quickly. (sportingnews.com)
Carolina no longer has a clinching scenario to watch: the Hurricanes already locked up the Eastern Conference on Monday night, even in a 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia. (nhl.com) That result gave Carolina the one standings point it needed, and the Hurricanes finished Monday with 111 points through 81 games. Philadelphia used the same game to clinch a Stanley Cup Playoffs berth. (nhl.com) The other path in the pregame math disappeared a few hours later, when Buffalo beat Chicago 5-1 at United Center. That win moved the Sabres to 108 points through 81 games and secured the Atlantic Division title. (nhl.com) The conference race mattered because the Eastern Conference champion gets the No. 1 seed on that side of the bracket and home-ice advantage through the first three rounds. Carolina had entered Monday leading the East, with Buffalo still close enough to matter. (espn.com) By Tuesday, the standings showed Carolina first in the Metropolitan Division at 110 points through 80 games in the last fully updated table, with Buffalo first in the Atlantic at 106 through 80 before Monday’s games were folded in. The official game recaps then settled the race: Carolina reached 111, Buffalo reached 108. (espn.com) (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) Carolina still has one regular-season game left, at the New York Islanders on Tuesday, April 14. Buffalo’s schedule shows one game left too, at home against Dallas on Wednesday, April 15. (nhl.com 1) (nhl.com 2) (espn.com) The National Hockey League’s 1,312-game regular season ends Thursday, April 16, so the remaining questions are now about final matchups, not whether Carolina will finish atop the East. The Hurricanes already answered that one. (nhl.com)
