NHL playoff scramble
The NHL regular season remains tightly packed: ESPN reports every team has three or fewer games left, and Monday’s slate included ten matchups with direct playoff implications as three postseason spots are still unresolved. That compressed finish means final seedings and wild‑card berths could still shift dramatically over the next five days. (espn.com) (nhl.com)
The National Hockey League playoff field is almost set, but seeding and three remaining berths can still swing before the regular season ends this week. (nhl.com) The league had five days left in the regular season as of Sunday, April 12, and Monday, April 13, brought a 10-game slate with direct impact on both conferences. Every team had three or fewer games remaining entering the day. (nhl.com) (espn.com) (whereisthegame.com) In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins held the first wild card at 98 points and the Ottawa Senators held the second at 97, with the Washington Capitals at 93 and the Columbus Blue Jackets at 92 after 81 games. Detroit, New York Islanders, New Jersey, Florida, Toronto and the New York Rangers were already marked eliminated in ESPN’s standings. (espn.com) In the Western Conference, Utah had clinched one wild-card berth with 90 points, while the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators were tied at 90 points and the Winnipeg Jets were one point back at 87. San Jose sat at 86, with Seattle, Calgary, St. Louis, Vancouver and Chicago already out. (espn.com) The National Hockey League’s format makes those last games unusually volatile. The top three teams in each division qualify automatically, and each conference adds two wild cards, so a single win can move a team from chasing a berth to chasing home ice. (nhl.com) The bracket is fixed once the field is set. Division winners play wild cards, the second- and third-place teams in each division meet in the first round, and there is no reseeding after that. (nhl.com) That leaves more than simple clinch-or-eliminate drama. Buffalo and Montréal were tied atop the Atlantic Division at 106 points in ESPN’s table, while Tampa Bay sat two points back, and Philadelphia still held third in the Metropolitan Division by one point over the Bruins. (espn.com) The Western race was just as compressed at the top. Colorado led the Central Division with 115 points, Dallas had 108, Minnesota had 102, and the Pacific Division leader Vegas had only a one-point edge on Edmonton and Anaheim in ESPN’s standings. (espn.com) Monday’s schedule put several contenders directly in each other’s path, including Detroit at Tampa Bay, Carolina at Philadelphia, San Jose at Nashville, Colorado at Edmonton and Winnipeg at Vegas. Los Angeles also faced Seattle in a national television window on ESPN. (whereisthegame.com) (espn.com) The regular season is scheduled to end this week, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set to open on Saturday, April 18. Until then, the standings are still loose enough that a team can wake up in a playoff spot and go to bed outside it. (nhlplayoff.com) (nhl.com)
