Heading into Saturday, there was much anticipation that multiple teams would clinch playoff spots (and others would be mathematically eliminated) — to put it mildly, that anticipation was met.
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The Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins clinched the Eastern wild cards after the New Jersey Devils defeated the Detroit Red Wings in regulation, thus eliminating the Red Wings as well.
Out West, the Vegas Golden Knights clinched their spot — and took over first place in the Pacific Division — with an overtime win over the Colorado Avalanche, while the Edmonton Oilers earned a playoff ticket despite losing to the Los Angeles Kings. In the process, the St. Louis Blues and Seattle Kraken were knocked out.
There is one spot left in the East (the No. 3 seed in the Metro), and two spots open in the West — with the added possibility of quite a bit of seeding movement in the Pacific. Here’s what we are watching Sunday:
Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals3 p.m. ET (TNT)
The first game of the day is the Penguins at the Capitals, a matchup that the Caps won in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Caps stay alive in the playoff race with a win of any kind, or an overtime/shootout loss; a regulation loss eliminates them. The Penguins are locked in to the No. 2 seed in the Metro.
Montreal Canadiens at New York Islanders6 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Like the Caps, the Islanders need a win of any variety or an OT/shootout loss to stay alive in the race for the No. 3 Metro spot; a regulation loss eliminates them. The Canadiens will finish no worse than third in the Atlantic, and can still finish first — but must have more standings points than the Sabres and Lightning, since their regulation wins total (33) is so low comparatively.
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Boston Bruins at Columbus Blue Jackets6 p.m. ET (NHL Network)
The Blue Jackets have a little more wiggle room than the Caps and Isles — but not much. A loss doesn’t eliminate them, but time is running out to catch the Flyers in third. Due to tiebreakers, Boston fell behind Ottawa with its loss on Saturday; if the two teams finish tied in points, the Sens will be the higher of the two wild cards. Why does that matter? The first wild card will (most likely) take on the Atlantic Division champ, while the second wild card will (again, most likely) face off against the Hurricanes in Round 1.
Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
With their spot in the postseason secure (albeit with the above seeding situation to resolve), will the Senators take their foot off the gas? And can the Devils knock off another team ahead of them in the standings for a second straight day?
Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks8 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
The Ducks narrowly missed out on clinching a playoff spot based on Saturday’s results, but can right that wrong with a win of any kind or an OT/shootout loss to the Canucks. Like Montreal, Anaheim is also still alive for a division title; but also like the Canadiens, the Ducks will lose the RW tiebreaker to either team ahead of them, so they need all the points they can get. The Canucks have been locked in as the No. 1 seed in the draft lottery order for quite some time now, so they will have no lower than the No. 3 overall pick in June’s draft.
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Utah Mammoth at Calgary Flames9 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
The Mammoth have a little more work to do to lock in the first wild-card position; a win here puts them two points closer. Why is that important? The first wild card will face off against the Pacific Division champ in the first round, while the second wild card earns a matchup with the mighty Colorado Avalanche. On the other side, the Flames could finish second overall in the draft lottery order — or out of the Top 5 — based on how their final three games go, along with what their fellow lottery teams do.
Every team has three or fewer games remaining before the regular season concludes on Thursday, and we’ll help you keep track of it all here on the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races — along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2026 NHL draft lottery.
Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.
Jump ahead:Current playoff matchupsToday’s scheduleLast night’s scoresExpanded standingsRace for No. 1 pick
Current playoff matchups
Eastern Conference
A1 Buffalo Sabres vs. WC1 Ottawa SenatorsA2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3 Montreal Canadiens
M1 Carolina Hurricanes vs. WC2 Boston BruinsM2 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. M3 Philadelphia Flyers
Western Conference
C1 Colorado Avalanche vs. WC2 Los Angeles KingsC2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Minnesota Wild
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Utah MammothP2 Edmonton Oilers vs. P3 Anaheim Ducks
Today’s games
Note: All times ET. All games not on TNT or NHL Network are available to stream on ESPN+ (local blackout restrictions apply).
Pittsburgh Penguins at Washington Capitals, 3 p.m. (TNT)Montreal Canadiens at New York Islanders, 6 p.m.Boston Bruins at Columbus Blue Jackets, 6 p.m. (NHLN)Ottawa Senators at New Jersey Devils, 7 p.m.Vancouver Canucks at Anaheim Ducks, 8 p.m.Utah Mammoth at Calgary Flames, 9 p.m.
Last night’s scoreboard
Tampa Bay Lightning 2, Boston Bruins 1Ottawa Senators 3, New York Islanders 0Washington Capitals 6, Pittsburgh Penguins 3Los Angeles Kings 1, Edmonton Oilers 0New Jersey Devils 5, Detroit Red Wings 3St. Louis Blues 5, Chicago Blackhawks 3Nashville Predators 2, Minnesota Wild 1Dallas Stars 2, New York Rangers 0Carolina Hurricanes 4, Utah Mammoth 1Florida Panthers 6, Toronto Maple Leafs 2Columbus Blue Jackets 5, Montreal Canadiens 2Philadelphia Flyers 7, Winnipeg Jets 1Seattle Kraken 4, Calgary Flames 1Vegas Golden Knights 3, Colorado Avalanche 2 (OT)Vancouver Canucks 4, San Jose Sharks 3 (SO)
Expanded standings
Note: An “x” with a team’s name means the club has clinched a playoff spot; a “y” means that they have clinched the division; a “z” indicates that they have clinched the best record in the conference; a “p” means they have clinched the top overall seed. An “e” means that the club has been mathematically eliminated. Teams clinch a playoff spot when their magic number reaches zero and are mathematically eliminated when their tragic number reaches zero.
Atlantic Division
Enhanced standings: Atlantic Division
Team GP PTS RW Seed GR Next Game Chances Pace Max TragicNumber MagicNumber x – Sabres 80 106 41 A1 2 @ CHI (Mon) 100.0 109 110 N/A IN x – Lightning 80 104 40 A2 2 vs. DET (Mon) 100.0 107 108 N/A IN x – Canadiens 80 104 33 A3 2 @ NYI (Sun) 100.0 107 108 N/A IN x – Senators 80 96 37 WC1 2 @ NJ (Sun) 100.0 98 100 N/A IN x – Bruins 80 96 31 WC2 2 @ CBJ (Sun) 100.0 98 100 N/A IN e – Red Wings 80 91 30 N/A 2 @ TB (Mon) 0.0 93 95 OUT N/A e – Panthers 80 80 30 N/A 2 vs. NYR (Mon) 0.0 82 84 OUT N/A e – Maple Leafs 80 78 23 N/A 2 vs. DAL (Mon) 0.0 80 82 OUT N/AMetro Division
Enhanced standings: Metropolitan Division
Team GP PTS RW Seed GR Next Game Chances Pace Max TragicNumber MagicNumber y – Hurricanes 80 110 38 M1 2 @ PHI (Mon) 100.0 113 114 N/A IN x – Penguins 80 98 34 M2 2 @ WSH (Sun) 100.0 100 102 N/A IN Flyers 80 94 26 M3 2 vs. CAR (Mon) 49.8 96 98 N/A 3 Blue Jackets 80 92 28 N/A 2 vs. BOS (Sun) 14.7 94 96 3 N/A Capitals 80 91 35 N/A 2 vs. PIT (Sun) 4.3 93 95 2 N/A Islanders 80 91 29 N/A 2 vs. MTL (Sun) 32.8 93 95 2 N/A e – Devils 80 85 29 N/A 2 vs. OTT (Sun) 0.0 87 89 OUT N/A e – Rangers 80 75 24 N/A 2 @ FLA (Mon) 0.0 77 79 OUT N/ACentral Division
Enhanced standings: Central Division
Team GP PTS RW Seed GR Next Game Chances Pace Max TragicNumber MagicNumber p – Avalanche 79 115 46 C1 3 @ EDM (Mon) 100.0 119 121 N/A IN x – Stars 80 108 37 C2 2 @ TOR (Mon) 100.0 111 112 N/A IN x – Wild 80 102 30 C3 2 @ STL (Mon) 100.0 105 106 N/A IN x – Mammoth 79 90 32 WC1 3 @ CGY (Sun) 100.0 93 96 N/A IN Predators 80 86 28 N/A 2 vs. SJ (Mon) 12.1 88 90 4 N/A Jets 79 82 28 N/A 3 @ VGK (Mon) 4.2 85 88 2 N/A e – Blues 79 80 30 N/A 3 vs. MIN (Mon) 0.0 83 86 OUT N/A e – Blackhawks 80 70 21 N/A 2 vs. BUF (Mon) 0.0 72 74 OUT N/APacific Division
Enhanced standings: Pacific Division
Team GP PTS RW Seed GR Next Game Chances Pace Max TragicNumber MagicNumber x – Golden Knights 80 91 28 P1 2 vs. WPG (Mon) 100.0 93 95 N/A IN x – Oilers 80 90 31 P2 2 vs. COL (Mon) 100.0 92 94 N/A IN Ducks 79 89 25 P3 3 vs. VAN (Sun) 99.9 92 95 N/A 1 Kings 79 87 21 WC2 3 @ SEA (Mon) 78.4 90 93 N/A 3 Sharks 79 82 25 N/A 3 vs. SJ (Mon) 5.3 85 88 2 N/A e – Kraken 79 79 26 N/A 3 vs. LA (Mon) 0.0 82 85 OUT N/A e – Flames 79 73 25 N/A 3 vs. UTA (Sun) 0.0 76 79 OUT N/A e – Canucks 79 54 15 N/A 3 @ ANA (Sun) 0.0 56 60 OUT N/ARace for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the draw for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process can be found here. Atop draft boards for this summer is Gavin McKenna, a forward for Penn State.
Draft lottery standings
*Note: The Maple Leafs’ pick belongs to the Bruins, unless it lands in the top five. The Red Wings’ pick belongs to the Blues, unconditionally.
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