What’s at Stake in the NHL, April 6: Clinching scenarios, playoff matchups and more
The NHL season is winding down, with less than two weeks remaining on the regular-season schedule. We’ve reached the point of the campaign at which some clinching or elimination scenario is seemingly in play every night, so we’ll keep you abreast on what to watch for each day between now and the end of the regular season.
So what’s at stake in the standings for Thursday, April 6?
– The Tampa Bay Lightning (45-27-6)’s chances at securing home ice over the Toronto Maple Leafs (46-21-10) are next to nil after the Bolts’ loss to the New York Rangers Wednesday night. The magic number for Toronto to clinch home ice is three points. One Toronto point and a Tampa loss would do it; two Toronto points and one Tampa point would also do it. The Bolts visit the New York Islanders on the second leg of a back-to-back tonight, while the Leafs visit the mighty Boston Bruins. Toronto has a game in hand on Tampa.
– The Detroit Red Wings (35-33-9) and Ottawa Senators (37-34-7) could be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention depending on tonight’s results. Both have maximum point totals of 89 if they win out, so anything less than two points coupled with wins by the New York Islanders AND Florida Panthers would eliminate Detroit and Ottawa, as the Isles and Panthers would get to 89 points apiece by winning. Even a single point from the Panthers AND Islanders would eliminate the Red Wings and Senators if they lose in regulation. The Panthers have a chance to directly take out their competition tonight, hosting the Senators in a crucial game.
– A regulation loss will eliminate the Red Wings in any scenario, as they don’t have the ROW tiebreaker over the Panthers or Islanders.
– The Seattle Kraken (43-26-8) can clinch their first playoff berth in franchise history with a win over the Arizona Coyotes tonight. A single point would get the Kraken to 95 and would clinch them a playoff berth IF the Nashville Predators (39-30-8) are held to one point or fewer at home against the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, as the Kraken have the ROW tiebreaker over the Predators and Flames.
IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY…
Western Conference
(P1) Vegas Golden Knights vs. (WC2) Winnipeg Jets
(C1) Colorado Avalanche (WC1) Seattle Kraken
(P2) Los Angeles Kings vs. (P3) Edmonton Oilers
(C2) Dallas Stars vs. (C3) Minnesota Wild
Eastern Conference
(A1) Boston Bruins vs. (WC2) New York Islanders
(M1) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (WC1) Florida Panthers
(M2) New Jersey Devils vs. (M3) New York Rangers
(A2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (A3) Tampa Bay Lightning