Pacific Seeding Still Alive
Even with the field set, the Pacific Division race — specifically the Ducks and Kings jockeying for better seeding — remained unsettled as teams chased home‑ice advantages. (nhl.com) That movement means matchup quality and potential home‑ice could still shift in the final regular‑season games. (bleacherreport.com)
The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings reached the playoffs, but their place in the Pacific bracket was still moving in the season’s final days. (nhl.com) On April 14, the National Hockey League said all 16 playoff spots were filled with three days left, but first place in the Pacific Division was still available and only two of eight first-round series were set. The league also listed scenarios that could still move Anaheim, Los Angeles and the Utah Mammoth around the Western Conference bracket. (nhl.com) By April 15, Bleacher Report’s playoff snapshot had Vegas at 93 points, Edmonton at 91, Anaheim at 90, Utah at 92 and Los Angeles at 90, which left Anaheim in the Pacific’s No. 3 slot and Los Angeles in the second wild-card spot entering the final day. (bleacherreport.com) That distinction changes the opening matchup. Under the National Hockey League’s format, the top three teams in each division qualify automatically, the next two teams in each conference enter as wild cards, and the bracket stays division-based rather than reseeding by overall conference record. (nhl.com) Home ice also follows the standings. Sports Illustrated’s playoff format explainer notes that the team with the better regular-season point total gets home-ice advantage in a best-of-seven series, so a late move of one or two points can decide where Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 are played. (si.com) The Ducks had only just secured their place. Anaheim announced April 13 that it clinched a 2026 playoff berth after Nashville lost to San Jose, sending the Ducks to the postseason for the 15th time in franchise history. (nhl.com) Los Angeles clinched that same night, according to Bleacher Report’s April 13 update, which listed the Kings at 89 points after the field was finalized and before the last standings shuffle played out. (bleacherreport.com) By the end of the regular season, ESPN’s standings showed the Pacific finished with Vegas on 95 points, Edmonton on 92 and Anaheim on 91, while Los Angeles ended on 91 points as a Western Conference wild card. That left the Ducks above the Kings on the bracket line even though both clubs finished with the same point total. (espn.com) So the late Pacific race was never about getting in. It was about whether Anaheim could stay in the division’s top three, whether Los Angeles could climb out of wild-card territory, and which building would host the first games once the playoffs opened. (nhl.com)
