With just a few weeks left in the regular season, teams fight for the most challenging spots in the NHL playoffs. The Western Conference playoff picture is firmly set, with only seeding left to decide. However, there is still a raging battle for the final wildcard spot in the East.
The Montreal Canadiens have pulled ahead as the clear favorites, but with how these teams have been playing, it’s not over until it’s over.
Spirits are high in Montreal. A young team with few expectations currently holds a firm spot in the NHL playoffs. On top of that, some are even starting to believe they could be an upset pick come the postseason.
For a team as young as Montreal, they have done an incredible job of righting the ship, after dropping five in a row and falling out of a playoff spot a week and a half ago. Since then, they have rattled off five straight wins, including two against the Florida Panthers. The Canadiens now control their destiny, and we’ll see them in the NHL playoffs.
The Yzerplan will likely have to wait another year before the team is playoff-bound. After a mishandling at the trade deadline, the Detroit Red Wings slowly fell behind teams like the New York Rangers and Canadiens. In a hyper-competitive conference, the little things boost a team into the NHL playoffs.
The Red Wings have failed to do those things. They fall under the league average in expected goals for, high-danger scoring chances, and actual goal differential. Funnily enough, the defense and goaltending haven’t been half as bad as everybody thought they would be at the beginning of the season. Instead, it’s the offense that’s letting the team down.
The forward core lacks depth, and the bottom six is a wasteland. Despite all this, Detroit has shown some life and is only six points back from the Canadiens. The NHL playoffs aren’t entirely out of the picture, but they’re certainly unlikely.
Whatever the New York Rangers do or try, it fails. They have been the textbook definition of inconsistent and unpredictable. One night, Igor Shesterkin will play at the Vezina level they paid him to play at, and then he’ll fall apart the next (like last night). The blame can’t all be placed on Shesterkin, as the rest of the team has been just as much of a trainwreck. The offense has struggled all season to generate offense consistently, and the defense is its own story.
Since trading away Jacob Trouba and Victor Mancini, the defensive core has repeatedly left Igor out to dry. The former President’s Trophy winners look destined to miss the postseason, as it would take a miracle for the Rags to make the NHL playoffs.
There is a moment of silence for these two teams with less than a 1% chance of making the NHL playoffs. Starting with the New York Islanders, they’re on track for yet another middling season. Even after spoiling Alexander Ovechkin’s historic day, they still sit seven points out of a spot in the NHL playoffs.
The Columbus Blue Jackets, the team with one of the most compelling stories in the NHL this year, have lost their stardust. After a rough last ten games, the Blue Jackets have fallen eight points behind the Canadiens, and their playoff hopes have been dashed. It wasn’t a season to forget, though, as Columbus has taken great developmental strides and built a solid foundation for its future.
It’s down to the final stretch. The Canadiens hold the final spot in the NHL playoffs, but anything can happen. Both the Red Wings and Rangers are hot on Montreal’s tail, and either one could make a final push for their spot. With most teams only having six to seven games remaining, the postseason is almost upon us. Which team will hold that wildcard spot then has yet to be seen.
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